As a law enforcement officer with 35 years of experience and a life-long member of our community, I share some of the sincere concerns some of you, our citizens, have in calling for revisions to the recently enacted New York State Criminal Justice Reform laws.
Our community is hurting and is in pain. I feel it together with you in the wake of the outrageous violence and killings we are witnessing in our community. Seventy-four homicides in the City of Rochester year to date and on pace to surpass last year’s record number of 84 killings in our City. There have been 282 incidents in which someone has been shot in the City to date this year; destroying entire families. A trend that has skyrocketed since the fall of 2019. It is despicable, unacceptable, and should be unacceptable to you too!
Public Safety is not only essential to a healthy community, it is something we all want and value in our neighborhoods. It is the primary reason why those of us in law enforcement chose this career, to take care of our communities.
Public Safety and fair treatment under the law to all are not mutually exclusive. These goals can be achieved simultaneously. We must consider victims of crime first when forming Public Safety policy.
This conversation is about more than bail. Sweeping criminal justice changes at a magnitude never seen before: Raise the Age, Discovery, Bail, HALT Act, Less is More – all coming down in just 36 months.
Repeat offenders refuse to stop committing criminal activity, blatantly victimizing us all. We ask stakeholders to engage in meaningful conversation and hear the community’s plea for help.
We are in agreement with our state lawmakers that reform was needed in our Criminal Justice system. One’s ability to pay bail should play no role in their liberty. Why should someone who is wealthy be able to “buy” their way out of jail, when someone who committed the same crime and doesn’t have the financial means be locked up until trial? It is unfair.
In the same vein, we must closely examine each case individually. If a person has a criminal history and exhibits the propensity to reoffend and harm individuals, that person DOES need to be detained for the safety of those they put in harm’s way, and their own safety.
Law enforcement officers must be part of the conversation when sweeping reforms and subsequent modifications are discussed and made to the criminal justice system. The current Criminal Justice Reform laws were enacted without our involvement and we are experiencing the effects of that as a result. In most instances, judges are left with no choice but to release criminals based on the tenets of the law. Release violent offenders back onto the streets they left, in some cases just hours ago, only to reoffend and in some instances, take a life.
What about the victims of crimes? What are we doing for the women, men and children who are hurting as a result of a criminal’s actions? Some of our most dangerous individuals are being released back into the community before victims have a chance to plan for their safety. Victims of sexual assault or domestic violence have little to no chance to find new shelter to protect themselves and their children from the person who hurt them just hours prior.
NOW is the time to invest in our communities, families, and neighborhoods. Lawmakers must to go back to the drawing board to re-examine Criminal Justice Reform. NOW is the time “tweaks” must be made to the reforms so that we are all protected. NOW is the time to include us in the conversation.
The escalating cost of violence is human suffering. We are pitting community members against one another. Arguments on what to do are undignified actions, creating social silos. People are expecting lawmakers to do something. The time is NOW.
~Monroe County Sheriff Todd K. Baxter