When Gov. Kathy Hochul ran for a full term last year, Republicans repeatedly raised the issue of crime and public safety facing New Yorkers.
In January, he pivoted to make another push to change the state’s cashless bond, which had been a flashpoint during the election season. Six months later, Hochul this week said progress has been made to make the state safer.
“Public safety — we’re working on it, but we’ve made great strides,” he said.
Voters have consistently registered crime as a top concern for them. And Hochul has responded by seeking and winning two sets of bail law changes, including a provision this year that gives judges more discretion in setting bail in a wider variety of cases.
The changes are unlikely to defuse the issue for Democrats, and GOP leaders have indicated they still plan to make public safety a major issue for them in the 2024 election season.
Hochul, meanwhile, also announced a drop in shootings statewide this week, though the numbers remain higher than pre-pandemic levels. His promotion of crime statistics comes a year after he won an expansion of the law that seeks to remove guns from people deemed a danger to themselves or others.
Republicans and law enforcement officials have criticized the changes for being relatively modest. But in a Democratic-led legislature, getting any amendment through would prove to be a challenge.
“I knew I had to give judges back the same discretion they had before and make sure people who reoffend are off the street,” Hochul told reporters this week.
Lawmakers will soon send a bill to Hochul’s desk that would seal about 2 million criminal records after supporters of ending cash bail requirements denounced a budget that expanded discretionary measures. Hochul has pointed to support from business organizations for the measure, an indication that he is likely to sign it.
“This is driven by the business community at a time of great labor shortages, but we will have many guarantees,” Hochul said.
Addressing crime hasn’t necessarily divided Democrats and Republicans. The record-sealing measure, known as the Clean Slate Act, narrowly passed the Assembly.
Democrat Phil Steck was among those who voted against sealing the records, noting the need for additional safeguards for prosecutors. Steck, however, is skeptical of criticism of the cashless bail law and the use of public safety as an overarching political issue.
“We have to stop hype and buckle down and use the tools that are available to us and I think we can be successful,” he said. “They know who is committing these crimes and we can target resources in that area.”
Republicans, including Rep. Mike Reilly, criticized the criminal justice approach, he says, because it helps people who break the law.
“We seem to give more rights to those who are criminals and those who are incarcerated than to the victims who assault, who murder,” he said.
