From the NY Post:In a ramped-up effort to thwart subway criminals and keep repeat offenders off the streets, Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance has pushed for higher bail and harsher penalties for small-time offenses like cellphone snatching and pickpocketing, his office told The Post.
In a policy sea change, prosecutors in the new Crime Strategies Unit have been demanding hard time for crooks based on their history as serial offenders, and judges have been granting those requests since May.
Before, prosecutors would ask for bail based upon the crime a person was accused of at the time, resulting in slap-on-the-wrist punishments that let crooks strike again, officials said.
Stopping subway thieves has been a massive focus of the program.
"Crimes committed within the New York City transit system threaten the safety of all passengers of public transportation," Vance told The Post.
He said his department "analyzes crime trends across Manhattan, including in our transit system. Our office takes all crimes seriously, because we know that low-level offenses often lead to more serious crimes."
8 comments:
Pick pocketing and cell phone snatching is GRAND LARCENY,an E FELONY. How the fuck is that a minor crime?!?
Gee - where have I heard this before? Sounds like Mayor Rudy is back.
Small offenses lead to big numbers for the D.A. it's all a numbers game to give the illusion they're doing their jobs the real numbers and the only one that counts is the conviction rate.
The law will never be enforced....too many critics will start to scream racism.
Small offenses lead to big numbers for the D.A. it's all a numbers game to give the illusion they're doing their jobs the real numbers and the only one that counts is the conviction rate.
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You are correct that all that they care about is their conviction rate, but you are incorrect about these small offenses leading to big numbers. The ADA's give arresting officers shit about collars like these. They look down at these "small" collars as unworthy of their time, and either drop the charges or just settle for a small fine.
Someone stole my vintage early 90s cellphone the other day. I hope that fool gets the death penalty.
Maspeth Mom says....
I think the reasoning behind this - is that people usually start out "testing the waters" with minor crimes - then when they are successfull they move on the bigger more lucrative stuff. So if you can nip the little stuff it will never get a chance to fester and grow to be brazen enough to attempt to do a serious crime-like assault and murder.
Subways are ripe for small crimes like this and if it is not tolerated then the public feels safer and the environment becomes safer attracting or maintaining ridership.
If the jerks that commit these crimes are in fact targeted aggressively then they back off knowing that an arrest is nothing like a slap on the wrist any more.
It also sounds like Vance maybe gearing up for a run for Mayor?
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