Mayor Eric Adams is going after prosecutors and judges for returning suspected shooters to the streets in New York City. He added that the city is practicing soft-on-crime policies that are making the city’s criminal justice system into “a laughingstock of our entire country.”
Adams held a news conference with NYPD officials, praising cops for being “laser-focused on shooters” and making arrests. He said “the other team must do their part,” meaning the courts have to now prosecute and judges need to make sure the criminals stay in jail.
“Everyone has to do their part. If not, they go out and come back,” he said. “No one takes criminal justice seriously anymore. These bad guys no longer take them seriously. They believe our criminal justice system is a laughingstock of our entire country.”
Adams also went after Albany for failing to amend the state’s bail law and said the state’s politicians are out of touch with regular New Yorkers.
“I’ve had lawmakers say to me that young people are carrying guns because they feel unsafe and so, it should be understandable that they’re carrying guns. No! No! It’s not understandable. And so, if that’s the philosophy up there, I heard a lawmaker say that ‘if you, if you want to deal with the Rikers issue, just let anybody out.’ I mean, what is the reality here? That is not what New Yorkers want. And so, we’re hoping that they listen to what we have been saying to make our city the safe city that we deserve.”
Gun violence in New York remains nearly double pre-pandemic levels, according to NYPD data. Other major categories of crime ticked up in May.
