CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORMS HAVE MADE A MESS OUT OF NY

‘State is a mess’: Bill Bratton wishes Eric Adams luck in ‘tough road’ ahead 

 

By Sam Raskin

 

New York Post

October 16, 2021

Former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said "the legislature has made it almost impossible to do anything." 

 

Former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton on Sunday wished “good luck” to mayoral frontrunner Eric Adams if he’s elected — saying state legislators made a “mess” with recent criminal justice reform.

During an appearance on WABC 770’s “The Cats Roundtable,” Bratton predicted a bumpy ride for Adams, a former NYPD captain, if he makes it to Gracie Mansion.

“No district attorney wants to effectively prosecute anybody for minor crimes. The legislature has made it almost impossible to do anything,” he told host John Catsimatidis.

“This state is a mess,” he added. “Good luck to Eric when he comes in. He’s going to have a tough road to deal with.”

The former top cop lamented that “disorderly behavior” in the five boroughs is not punished harshly enough and made the case for a return to tough-on-crime policies like the “broken windows”-style policing he’s championed for decades.

“The legislature still refuses to give judges in the state the power to hold somebody … who is a danger to the public,” Bratton fumed. “Judges really have no control or discretion.” 

 

Bill Bratton predicted a bumpy ride for Eric Adams and criminal justice reform because “no district attorney wants to effectively prosecute anybody for minor crimes.”

 

Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, is the heavy favorite going into the Nov. 2 general election, when he faces off against Republican contender and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa. The next mayor will take over in January.

Bratton, who twice served as NYPD commissioner and also headed the Los Angeles and Boston police departments, has thrown his support behind Adams in the past.

The retired chief asserted that “things were going great in the state and city” until Albany’s bail reforms in 2019. Democratic state lawmakers passed a package that eliminated cash bail for low-level crimes, allowing those accused of misdemeanors and non-violent felonies to avoid jail time. The measures, signed into law by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, were partly rolled back in July 2020. 

“They made a mess of it,” Bratton said of state lawmakers. “The criminal justice system in the state is a mess. It was compounded by the coronavirus, which totally collapsed the system. It’s going to take years to fix, unfortunately.”

Meanwhile, Bratton praised a Manhattan judge for throwing the book at one of Barnard student Tessa Majors’ killers, sentencing the 16-year-old to the maximum of nine years to life in prison.

“All credit to the judge for basically hitting that kid with the maximum penalty,” he said. “That’s just not fashionable in New York anymore.”