As the homicide rate in New York City hits a 5-year high, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea recently said that he considers the city’s judicial system to be “imploding,” as reported by NBC.
Shea lamented the simultaneous impact of the coronavirus lockdowns and subsequent mass release of prisoners due to fears of the virus, and the spike in violence due to the race riots, with local leaders being politically motivated to not prosecute those who commit terrorism in the streets. As a result, the city’s homicide rate rose by 42 percent from last year, mirroring similar spikes in other major cities across the country.
“You have a criminal justice that’s imploding,” Shea said recently, adding that his choice of words was “the kindest way to put it.”
He further lambasted Governor Andrew Cuomo’s (D-N.Y.) move to release thousands of prisoners due to the coronavirus, calling it “a recipe for disaster,” and since “there is no safety net, we don’t even have a clue where they are.”
Even as thousands of prisoners were set free due solely to the coronavirus, many more were released due to Cuomo’s bail reform passed last year, which has prompted such a backlash that he announced the reversal of some portions of his own bail rules. With the rising calls from the far-left to disband the police, the NYPD announced the abolition of its roughly 600-member plainclothes anti-crime unit, which has further contributed to a breakdown in law and order in America’s largest city.