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Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman issued an executive order on Wednesday requiring the county’s police department to publish a daily report including the names of individuals arrested, their criminal case data and bail status.
Blakeman told The Post that the order will help shed a light on the effectiveness of the state’s bail reform law – which prevents a judge from setting bail for most misdemeanors and non-violent felonies – or track recidivist offenders.
“It’s time that Nassau residents and the lawmakers who passed these dangerous laws know exactly how they are impacting our communities. This Executive Order sheds sunlight on these dangerous laws, and puts pressure on the Governor and State lawmakers to put law abiding Americans above criminals,” Blakeman told The Post.
The Republican executive supports a full repeal of changes made to New York’s bail laws, as do other law enforcement officials across the state.
Under current law, New York judges are only allowed to set bail or lock up defendants based on their likelihood to return to court to face prosecution.
“Given the recidivism data on defendants rearrested while released under the State of New York’s cashless bail system, and the need to forewarn the public of the presence of these recidivist criminals in their community, the Nassau County Police Department will now fully inform the public with the bail status requirement ordered herein,” reads the order, which is effective immediately.
Roughly 20 percent of defendants who committed crimes that were not bail-eligible were rearrested while another case was pending between June 2020 and June 2021, according to data released by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services and Office of Court Administration.
Democrats have championed the data, arguing it’s proof that the bail laws are working the way they wanted them too — but Blakeman said even one rearrest for an additional crime is too much.
“It’s important because we need to educate people on the severity of the cashless bail and discovery laws that were passed by the [state] Legislature. We believe in Nassau county that this is a danger to society. One out is too many,” he added.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has said she would be open to making changes if New York City Mayor Eric Adams — a former member of the NYPD — pushes for the changes, but so far she has not included any amendments in her Fiscal Year 2022-2023 state Budget plan.
But Democrats in the state Legislature have said there is no appetite to change the law at this time.
“This has been the result of a disparate impact, negatively, specifically on black and brown communities,” said state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester) of the law on Wednesday during an interview with The Times Union.
“If you had money you could get out, if you didn’t have money you would stay in…“We want criminals to be – certainly – brought to justice,” she added.
“We will continue to look at the data and the data will allow us and inform us if there’s something else we have to do.”
Blakeman beat incumbent Nassau County Executive, Democrat Laura Curran during the November elections as part of a GOP wave that swept Long Island and also toppled Democratic incumbents in both the Nassau and Suffolk County District Attorney’s races.
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