COURIER LIFE, M 30 ARCH 29–APRIL 4, 2019 M BR B G
’ve said it before: You
don’t need an Ivy League
degree to figure out that if
criminals don’t face threats
of serious consequences for
their bad deeds, more of them
will feel emboldened.
Still, earlier this month,
District Attorney Eric Gonzalez
announced his socalled
Justice 2020 initiative
to reform the borough’s criminal
justice system, which
calls for “non-jail resolutions
at every juncture of a case.”
This should alarm every lawabiding
Brooklynite and New
Yorker.
To be fair, Gonzalez did
say that, “most often,” prison
time will still be sought for
murderers and rapists. That’s
great, but other lawbreakers
— including those that
break into cars and homes,
violate restraining orders,
menace straphangers on the
subways, and commit many
other crimes — now don’t
have to fear time in prison.
To hell with the victims.
Truth be told, Gonzalez’s
new policy of coddling criminals
is just a continuation of
the softer approach to crime
already adopted by city
leaders.
Remember, it was just
last year that his Manhattan
counterpart, District Attorney
Cy Vance, instituted his
lunatic policy of not criminally
prosecuting fare beaters.
And at City Hall, Mayor
DeBlasio continues to push
his scheme to close the jails
on Rikers Island, which will
all but certainly result in
less scofflaws behind bars,
because there will be fewer
cells to lock them up in.
Sure, the “bad old days” of
decades past may seem like a
distant memory, but we must
remember that the prosecution
of fare-beating and other
crimes was a key factor in
transforming the five boroughs
into the safest big city
in America. Many credit this
change to the Police Department’s
and local district attorneys’
offices joint effort to
prosecute those that threatened
New Yorkers and their
quality of life — an approach
that struck fear into all criminals,
not just aspiring rapists
and murderers.
Indeed, some statistics
already show that would-be
lawbreakers are taking note
of the “let most everyone
walk” mentality adopted
by many law-enforcement
officials.
The New York Post, for
example, recently reported
how repeat sexual offenders
continue to return to subway
cars to harass innocent riders.
One such baddie, who allegedly
has a habit of touching
himself while sucking his
thumb in view of commuters,
still walks free, despite his 78
arrests — 32 of which were for
transit-related sex crimes, reported
the Post, which identified
dozens more sleazeballs
with similar records.
I ride the subway to work
almost every day and, in my
own experience, aggressive
panhandling — while technically
not a crime — has become
the norm rather than
the exception. (To his credit,
Hizzoner did suggest banning
such begging back in 2017, before
admitting he’d face legal
obstacles to doing so.) And
the panhandling, coupled
with sexual predators’ apparent
feeling that they have
free license to roam subway
cars, is enough to confirm
some locals’ worst fears that
the city is sliding backwards
when it comes to crime.
Police can only do so
much to stop quality-of-life
and other crimes if prosecutors
give would-be scofflaws
a free pass and don’t seek
prison time for them. Sooner
or later, cops will not be able
to keep up with criminals let
back on the streets — and the
new baddies that join their
ranks because they fear no
time behind bars.
Gonzalez — and other city
leaders — must not show lawbreakers
more empathy than
law-abiding New Yorkers —
and crime victims — as they
seek to reform criminal justice
in the city.
Bob Capano is a professor
of political science of
more than 15 years, who
has previously worked for
local Democratic and Republican
pols, and as the
chairman of the Brooklyn
Reform Party.
THE RIGHT
VIEW