New York City Mayor Eric Adams and police chiefs blasted the state’s bail reform laws as “insane” and “dangerous” amid a surge in arrests and a series of high-profile attacks on law enforcement and audience. New York Police Department Commissioner Keechant Sewell joined Adams and other NYPD officials for a news conference Wednesday at NYPD headquarters, where she spoke about “the challenges we face in New York every day.” They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results — New York City Mayor Eric Adams “These are repeat offenders who cause New Yorkers to suffer needlessly. Every day, as hard-working New Yorkers begin their day or night at work or school, or simply to enjoy what this city has to offer, repeat criminals plan or exploit opportunity to commit their next theft, robbery, burglary or other crime,” Sewell said. “Their efforts are further fueled by the fact that after they are arrested by the NYPD, the criminal justice system fails to hold them properly accountable for their actions. These offenders face very few, if any, consequences despite committing crime after crime.” The city’s top police officer added that the number of victims of crime “continues to rise”. NYC TIMES SQUARE BOX CUTTER SLASHING suspect accused of hate crime AGAINST Asian woman. HE HAD 30 PREVIOUS ARRESTS “Your NYPD officers are speaking to these victims. We support them and are proudly going to work for them with every resource at our disposal,” he continued. “But for too many of these victims, justice is elusive. Justice and fairness go hand in hand. Public service must work together on behalf of all the people we serve.” Sewell noted that New York remains the only state with a law that prevents judges from considering an offender’s potential threat to public safety when making custody decisions.
“This does not serve the next innocent victim,” he said. “It doesn’t serve our officers and it doesn’t serve the quality of life. We can and must do better.” Mayor Adams emphasized that this was not “a battle against those who saw the need to reform the criminal justice system,” but “against those who take advantage of those reforms.” Adams said there are “four components of the criminal justice process: police, judges, prosecutors, lawmakers” and they must “work together.” NY OFFICERS attacked with bottles, punches after trying to arrest man: REPORT He said NYPD arrests are up more than 24 percent since Aug. 1, with 109,000 arrests this year compared to 87,794 arrests over the same period in 2021. Arrests for the seven major crimes are up about 29 percent, he said. Gun arrests are at a 27-year high, while the number of murders and shootings is down for the year, he said. “What doesn’t work,” the mayor added, “is the other three pieces.” “They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results,” Adams told reporters. “Our criminal justice system is insane. Gun owners are back on the street within days — if not hours — of being arrested. And they go on to commit more crimes within weeks, if not days.” NYC MCDONALD’S WORKER SHOT IN NECK WHILE ORDERING FOOD WITH WIFE AND SON: POLICE NYPD officers examine the scene of a stabbing on Decatur Avenue in the Bronx. (Peter Gerber) He acknowledged there may be other needed reforms and said this was not an attack on them, but added: “This is about a small number of people taking advantage of existing laws to endanger our city.” NYPD Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael LiPetri said investigators have identified 716 people behind about 30 percent of the roughly 2,400 shootings since 2021. “We know who they are,” he said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Fifty-four percent of those 716 people — 385 people — have an open felony, he said. “That’s 0.008% of New York’s population responsible for 30 percent of the shootings in New York in the last year and a half.” Stephanie Pagones is a Digital Reporter for FOX Business and Fox News. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter: @steph_pagones.