NYC Mayor Adams: 10 criminals have been arrested nearly 500 times since 2020 by exploiting bail reform

New York’s bail reform law, which was passed in 2019 and amended in 2020, allows offenders on non-violent felonies and minor crimes to be bailed on nearly every occasion.

This law has been exploited by a group of 10 career criminals have racked up a total of 485 arrests between them since the law was tweaked in 2020.

New York Mayor Eric Adams has hit out at the law. He has praised the New York Police Department (NYPD) for taking violent offenders off the street, but has expressed frustration that the bail reform law means they are not held accountable for their actions.

“Our criminal justice system is insane,” Adams said while addressing the media at One Police Plaza. “It is dangerous, it is harmful and it’s destroying the fabric of our city.”

Adams went onto say that: “Time and time again, our police officers make an arrest, and then the person who is arrested for assault, felonious assaults, robberies and gun possessions, they’re finding themselves back on the street within days – if not hours – after the arrest.”

Harold Gooding has topped the list of “notable” career criminals with a total of 101 arrests, 88 of these coming after the bail reform law, according to NYPD statistics.

NYPD Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael Lipetri attended a press conference on Wednesday and referred to Gooding as a “petty larceny, grand larceny recidivist.” Lipetri went onto to express his frustration by saying “He’s hit one location 20 times. The same location, 20 times.”

He continued, “And again, we’re talking about arrests here. We’ve arrested that individual 100 times. How many crimes do you think he really committed? Two hundred? Three hundred? A thousand? And guess what? He’s walking around the streets of New York City today, probably committing another crime as we speak.”

NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell has said she agrees with Adams before going onto say that the bail system is broken. “The NYPD arrests them, but the criminal justice system fails to hold them,” Sewell said.

Sewell said that the bail reform law is soft on crime and prevents judges from setting bail for offenses such as robbery and assault charges that are not a felony. “New York remains the only state that prevents judges from considering the threat to public safety when making custody determinations,” Sewell added.