ASTORINO: HARCKHAM LAW LAUNCHED
‘CRIME VIRUS’ IN NEW YORK.
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Three NYPD Police Commissioner and Other Law Enforcement Leaders Cite Harckham Law as Impetus for Crime Wave.
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Astorino Calls for Immediate Repeal .
Hudson Valley-Aug. 3...
State Senator Peter Harckham (SD-40) is directly responsible for New York’s growing crime wave after passing irresponsible legislation in Albany that has tied the hands of judges, police officers, and district attorneys with disastrous results, former two-term Westchester county executive and state senate candidate Rob Astorino today charged.
Mr. Harckham rushed through a controversial cashless bail law in Albany last year — with virtually no input from New York’s law enforcement community — and we’re now seeing the destructive results of his recklessness across the state, Mr. Astorino said. The former county executive called on Mr. Harckham and others in Albany to sponsor legislation that would fully repeal his original bill to help restore public safety.
The current New York City Police Commissioner and two former commissioners who served under both Republican and Democratic mayors have cited Mr. Harckham’s law as the impetus for the soaring crime rates we are now suffering, as have many other law enforcement officials.
“It’s bail reform. It’s covid. It’s emptying out prisons. One of the most frustrating pieces right now, is a criminal justice system that just is not working and I’m calling on Albany to fix it. Fix it now. People are dying on the streets of New York City,” NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea pleaded in June.
“They had no public discussions when this legislation was being put together, had no consultations with district attorneys, with police executives, with judges. They just did it because they could do it. And they shoved it down the public’s throat, and now we’re seeing the ramifications of it,” said former NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly in March.
“As we finally get rid of one virus there’s going to be a second virus created by the legislature, which is gonna be the crime virus,” former NYPD commissioner William Bratton predicted in April.
“Peter Harkham’s recklessness in Albany has eroded 20 years of hard-fought public safety improvements,” Mr. Astorino said. “People are dying because of the turnstile justice Peter Harckham’s bill unleashed, and public confidence in New York’s ability to stabilize and protect itself has been badly shaken. His continued defense of cashless bail is unconscionable.”
In June, shootings were up 130% in New York City alone, and potentially dangerous criminals have been released into our communities since the controversial Harckham cashless bail law passed.
Mr. Harckham sought to rush through another bill earlier this month, before backing off of it after coming under fire from constituents. That bill would have eliminated state education funding from schools with ethnicity-based sports mascots (Vikings, Quakers, Indians, etc.) which would have included several schools in his own district.
“New Yorkers need rational, balanced people in Albany right now, not radical social engineers passing knee-jerk legislation,” Mr. Astorino said. “Peter Harkham is introducing bills without consideration of the harm they will cause, and that’s dangerous. His cashless bail bill is the most reckless legislation I’ve ever seen and the consequences are real. It needs to be repealed immediately.”
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