COMMISSIONER SEWELL, WELCOME TO NEW YORK

NYPD commissioner blasts Manhattan DA’s lenient agenda in letter to NYPD officer

 

By Joe Marino and Jesse O’Neill

 

New York Post

January 8, 2022

 

 

NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell sent an email to cops regarding their safety after Manhattan's new district attorney said he would downgrade certain charges. And she said she plans on speaking with Bragg further to seek a better balance between officer safety, public safety, and reform

 

NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell sent an e-mail to cops on Friday saying she’s “concerned” for their safety in light of the progressive policies announced this week by the new Manhattan district attorney that some see as soft on crime.

“I have studied these policies and I am very concerned about the implications to your safety as police officers, the safety of the public and justice for the victims,” Sewell wrote in the email obtained by The Post.

“I am making my concerns known to the Manhattan District Attorney and hope to have frank and productive discussions to try and reach more common ground.”

District Attorney Alvin Bragg, in his first memo issued Monday, instructed his staff to stop prosecuting many low-level offenses, to seek reduced charges for certain crimes and not to ask for bail except in the most serious cases.

Sewell, who also recently started in her role after being appointed by new Mayor Eric Adams, said the progressive approach will erode quality of life in the city, and sends a message to police officers that they are not protected.

 

Keechant Sewell, Mayor Eric Adams’ selected pick for police commissioner, said the approach will erode the quality of life in the city

 

Her message diverges from that of Adams, who has stood by Bragg amid outrage over his approach.

Asked on Wednesday about the DA’s policy not to go after smaller offenses, Adams told reporters: “I know DA Bragg. I respect him, he’s a great prosecutor.”

In her email to all uniformed members of the department, Sewell said she had already raised some issues with Bragg, including his refusal to prosecute resisting arrest charges unless they are part of a larger, felony case.

That decision “will invite violence against police officers and will have deleterious effects on our relationship with the communities we protect,” Sewell wrote.

The top cop also raised concerns about the new policies downgrading felonies to misdemeanors in certain cases.

For instance, Bragg’s memo states that suspects initially charged with armed robbery of a store would get hit with petit larceny instead, misdemeanor, provided no victims were seriously injured and there was no “genuine risk of physical harm.” The DA’s Office clarified on Wednesday that it would still prosecute armed robberies involving a gun as a felony.

Sewell said that classifying gunpoint robberies in businesses as misdemeanors instead of felonies endangers cops and is bad for business owners, who are reeling from increased theft.

 

In Keechant Sewell’s email to the members of the department, she claims to have already raised issues with Bragg and his refusal to prosecute resisting arrest charges unless they are part of a larger, felony case

 

“Commercial establishments have endured much during this pandemic and city government should do whatever it can to ensure they participate and thrive in the City’s ongoing recovery effort,” she wrote.

Downgrading drug dealing charges “will invite more open-air drug markets and drug use in Manhattan,” and lead to more gun violence as dealers beef over territory, she argued.

Bragg’s policies will exacerbate quality of life concerns, which have surged 59 percent since 2019, based on complaints to 311, Sewell claimed.

“The new charging policies of the Manhattan District Attorney effectively decriminalizes much of the conduct that New Yorkers are asking the police to address,” the top cop wrote.

Sewell also raised concern over Bragg’s stated aim to significantly reduce pretrial detention, reserving it only for “very serious cases.”

“In addition to gun possession, I am concerned that pretrial incarceration will no longer be sought for charges such as terrorism, criminal sale of a firearm, gun-point robberies … and other serious violent felonies that put the safety of the public and the police officers who have sworn to protect and serve at great risk,” she wrote.

 

Keechant Sewell said that classifying gunpoint robberies in businesses as misdemeanors instead of felonies places cops in danger and is bad for business owners

 

Sewell told members of the nation’s largest police department she believes “in criminal justice reform,” but argued that the NYPD has already been helping to reduce incarceration an arrests by pursuing “community based solutions.”

“I believe in reform that make sense when applied collaboratively,” Sewell told cops. “In that same vein, I am concerned about sweeping edicts that seem to remove discretion, not just from police officers, but also from Assistant District Attorneys regarding what crimes to prosecute and how to charge them.”

The commissioner said she would be seeking to speak with Bragg further “to seek a better balance between officer safety, public safety and reform” — but in the meantime instructed cops “to do your jobs based on your training, direction by supervisors and enforce the law.”

While some public defenders, including the Legal Aid Society, welcomed Bragg’s changes, police union leaders have warned the policies would only lead to more crime.

The head of the NYPD’s largest union, the Police Benevolent Association, also expressed “serious concerns about the message these types of policies send to both police officers and criminals on the street.”

“Police officers don’t want to be sent out to enforce laws that the district attorneys won’t prosecute,” PBA president Patrick Lynch said.

A request for comment from the DA’s office was not immediately returned late Friday night.