At the urging of Sixth Ward representative Rose Mary Christian, the Batavia City Council on Monday night agreed to take a stand against New York’s bail reform law that severely curtails the use of cash bail and pretrial detention.
Following a discussion that touched upon the legislation, failed attempts to revise it, and the impact upon communities and law enforcement, Council decided to ask City Manager Rachael Tabelski to draft a letter stating the board’s position and, after Council review, sending the letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other political leaders in Albany.
Council also made sure that a copy will go to the City of Batavia Police Benevolent Association and the Police Chiefs’ Association.
“This law harms police, public safety and it’s up to the judges to eliminate these laws,” Christian said. “These laws need to be changed and revised. I’m asking us to send a letter to the governor, state legislators and the judges to repeal this law.”
Christian said municipal governments need to step up to the plate to stem the rising tide of repeat offenders.
“Our city is not excluded from these violators either. I have people that feel they are prisoners in their houses because of being verbally abused, threatened and intimidated,” she said. “So, I am pleading with us that we send a letter to the judges, judicial department, whatever, so we can try to eliminate this. Coming from us as a body would mean a great deal.”
Tabelski informed Council that although a bill to reform bail reform was introduced in the just-completed state legislative session by minority Republicans, it failed to make it to the floor for a vote.
Police Chief Shawn Heubusch concurred with Christian that bail reform “affects us all.”
“Luckily we live in a community where there is not a lot of violent crime that takes place so our numbers are fairly small compared to the larger metropolitan areas to our east and west and Downstate,” he said. “However, we do deal with issues of repeat offenders. As everyone is aware, there have been several of them featured in the news lately.”
Heubusch spoke of a couple cases that may have not resulted in repeat offenses if those individuals were held on bail in the first place.
He said there has been an increase in violent crime in Buffalo and Rochester, and called statistics from New York City “off the charts” – specifically that 19.5 percent of the people tracked were rearrested once they were initially arraigned for a non-bailable offense, and that 26 percent of the people arrested for burglary in 2020 were rearrested within 30 days of committing the first crime.
“I will tell you that officers are very frustrated with these new laws. They do feel that it is a catch-and-release, if you will,” he said. “It does have an impact on our victims and our witnesses coming forward … We do get a little more resistance when we ask victims and witnesses for statements to come forward and come on the record.”
The police chief expressed disappointment in legislation (not yet signed into law) that would raise the age of juvenile criminal responsibility from 7 to 12.
“So, in other words, you can not arrest anyone under the age of 12 (if signed into law). That’s kind of the state of affairs that this is,” he said.
He also mentioned a parole legislation package that will be brought up in a special session. He said the “compassionate release act” would set free any offender who has served 15 years and is at least 55 years old – no matter the crime.
Tabelski said the discussion on bail reform is important as it makes “citizens and legislators … aware of how this Council feels and how they want to protect the community against offenders.”
Council President Eugene Jankowski Jr. said state leaders “don’t seem to be paying any attention to the problems” before Council Member Robert Bialkowski advised Christian that judges aren’t the ones who can change the law; that is in the hands of the state legislature.
Jankowski emphasized that City Council is behind its police officers.
“I think if I was in their position, as long as I knew that you were fighting for us on the national or state level, I think that would be a good step in the right direction,” he said. “We are very pro-police here. We support our police department … We’ve seen good, so far, retention. I mean we’re not driving officers away like some communities are by their comments and things.”
Heubusch agreed, adding that more and more police officers in larger communities are leaving the profession.
“They’re retiring at a 45-percent increased rate,” Jankowski said. “Hopefully, we can be stable and show our support in discussions like this and (let them) know that we’re behind them.”
