Some New York Democrats Hear Public About Crime

At least some Albany Democrats are willing to face New York’s ugly criminal reality and take the steps the public demands to combat it.

The two new bills aim to give law enforcement and the courts some of the tools to tackle crime, which has skyrocketed across the state in the wake of the left’s disastrous criminal justice “reforms”.

One, from State Senator Jessica Scarsella-Spanton (D-SI) and Assemblyman Manny De Los Santos (D-Manhattan), would make it a Class D crime to attack retail workers, such as wine cellar employees, who are often harassed by thugs. , and so on. commit a crime on bail.

That is, to give them the same protection as the cops, firefighters and MTA workers, as well as livery drivers and public utilities.

Another equally sensible proposal by Senator Kevin Thomas (D-Life) and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinovits (D-D) was to make petty theft a felony if committed within two years of a previous conviction (and also increase the maximum prison sentence for first-time offenders).

Given that a huge proportion of crime is committed by repeat offenders — as De Los Santos points out in his Post article — and only 327 criminals make up 30% of New York City’s 22,000 shoplifting arrests in 2022, the proposal is long overdue.

These plans are strongly supported by Collective Action to Protect Our Stores, a retail workers’ advocacy group.

These workers have been marginalized and ignored by crime-loving programs who prefer to babysit crooks in the name of “justice” rather than keep cashiers and family owners safe as Gotham is experiencing a 22 percent crime spike. .

But these bills will run into trouble even if they get to the floor. Legislative Assembly leaders are strongly opposed to major changes to their pro-criminal work, even resisting Gov. Kathy Hochul’s modest proposal to clarify the bail waiver law so that judges don’t think they have a duty to avoid issuing a clear waiver order.

It’s still a sign of hope: if enough Democratic lawmakers start demanding anti-crime action, the leadership will have to bend — or face a well-deserved uprising.