Police, politicians, lobby for changes in bail reform
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MAYVILLE -- In December, Chautauqua County sheriff's deputies attempted to stop an individual for a traffic violation. The suspect led officers on a high speed pursuit for 15 minutes before being stopped and apprehended. The vehicle was reported stolen from Cleveland and the suspect was charged on multiple accounts including driving while ability impaired with drugs.
According to Undersheriff Richard Telford, the suspect was booked at 6 a.m. and released two hours later by a judge who couldn't send him to jail due to the current bail reform laws. By noon, the individual stole another car in Mayville and drove it to Cleveland.
"This is an individual that led officers on a dangerous pursuit, had no regard for citizens or drivers on the roads," he said. "He is from Cleveland, Ohio. He has not appeared for his court date. There are currently warrants out for him so if and when he is picked up it will be an additional cost to our office and the taxpayers to go spend the time and the money to go pick him up and bring him back."
Telford shared the story on how the 2019 bail reform laws affected an arrest made by his department. Had the judge been permitted to send the suspect to jail, he could have answered to the charges and prevented him from stealing another vehicle.
Telford wasn't the only police official to discuss the problems with the bail reform laws. During a news conference in Mayville, several police chiefs, district attorneys and politicians gathered Friday afternoon to say how they believe the bail reforms have caused a spike in crime throughout the state.
Dunkirk Police Chief David Ortolano shared how on Tuesday the Southern Tier Regional Drug Task Force conducted a drug raid at 69 E. Sixth St. and arrested three people. Three people were arrested.
The raid took place at 5 a.m. By that evening two of the three suspects were back in the house and the third was back at the house the next day.
Ortolano expressed concerns for that neighborhood. "What about the rights of the neighborhood victims to not live in fear of these drug dealers? What neighbor would be willing to step up when they know that these people will be back the same day or at the latest the next day to terrorize their neighborhood again," he said.
Cuba Police Chief Dustin Burch was in Mayville for the news conference as well. He shared about an individual who had allegedly smashed windows out of their events center and was pouring gasoline inside, planning to set the building on fire.
"The individual was issued an appearance ticket with the court date down the road and that was about a month later that he was supposed to come back," he said.
But during that month, the employees at the events center were "filled with fear," knowing that the suspect was back out on the street, because it appeared he had a grudge against the staff.
State Sen. George Borrello, who organized Friday's news conference, said they had a news conference there two years ago when they expressed concerns over the the bail reforms.
"The purpose of that press conference was to essentially send a warning of what was going to happen come Jan. 1, 2020, when the so-called criminal justice reforms would go into place. … Sadly we stand here today, two years later to say unfortunately we were right," he said.
Borrello cited statistics from the state Division of Criminal Justice Services regarding the rise in crime in New York state. He said murders in the state went from 567 in 2018 to 836 in 2020. Firear-related crimes in the state went from 3,58 to 4,469. Motor vehicle theft rose from 13,110 to 19,599.
"Roughly four in 10 of those given an appearance ticket don't show up for a court date. We're seeing huge spikes in people with mental health crises -- people that could be getting help if they were in jail or prison are not getting the necessary help because they're on the street," he said.
State Assemblyman Andy Goodell said one of the most basic purposes of government is to make sure citizens are protected. "Unfortunately, over the last few years, we've seen more of a focus and concern for criminals than concern for our communities," he said.
Borrello and Goodell have sponsored legislation to repeal the bail reforms, add to to the list of crimes that are eligible for bail and make domestic violence offenses bail eligible to protect witnesses and victims of domestic violence. They've also introduced legislation to restore judicial discretion in setting bail. That would give more authority to local judges, when determining bail.
They were asked if they believe their legislation could go through. Borrello said he has hope because prominent Democratic mayors like Buffalo's Byron Brown and New York City's Eric Adams have both expressed their concern over the 2019 bail reforms.
Goodell said if the Democratic legislators don't bring back bail, he believes they will be voted out. "There are too many people being assaulted, robbed, burglarized, having their car stolen, or people they know murdered in New York state for this issue to be ignored. It's not 'whether' it's 'when' will this legislation be amended," he said.