Record attacks on police officers, reductions in criminal charges...: progressive policies unleash chaos in New York

Progressive policies are bringing chaos to New York. Attacks on police officers in the Big Apple skyrocketed during 2023, spurred by the massive arrival of immigrants with criminal records, as well as by the anti-police rhetoric and laws of progressive councilors. Also influential was the soft-on-crime policy of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who reduced the severity of 60% of charges filed by officers for all types of crimes.

5,363 officers attacked in 2023 in New York

According to a report accessed by The New York Post, 5,363 officers were injured while carrying out their work, either fighting suspects or due to ambushes and attacks against law enforcement representatives. This is an absolute record for attacks in the Big Apple. In just the last quarter of 2023, 1,286 attacks were recorded, according to the NYPD.

Experts point to a host of causes that, combined, have created a perfect storm for the city's safety: "Radical protests, an influx of criminal immigrants, bail reform, anti-police rhetoric and soft-on-crime prosecutors." All of them show a common origin: progressive policies, to which are added laws such as the one approved, after revoking the veto of Mayor Eric Adams, by the most progressive councilors that will drown the agents in paperwork and slow down their ability to respond to emergencies.

Police demand changes in immigration policy

From the Fraternal Order of Police, they demanded that Biden secure the border as a first step to reduce the increase in crime recorded throughout the country, and especially in NY, until now the safest of the large cities on a federal level. Furthermore, in line with the above, they point out that "we have to repeal sanctuary city laws that do not allow agencies to contact ICE when illegals are arrested." Last, but not least, "we need rogue DAs to do their job, like actually prosecuting criminals!"

Along the same lines, but even more forceful, was Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association, who announced that "we’re going to hold this criminal justice system — from the top, all the way to the bottom — accountable." to stop what he called "a pandemic." He also issued a stern warning: "We want to make it clear: "The New York police officers are not going to be punching bags." To settle the situation, Hendry pointed out that Justice "needs to send a clear message, once and for all: if you assault a police officer, you will stay in jail."

Bragg reduced 834 felonies to misdemeanors

Something that, at the moment, progressive prosecutors, like Alvin Bragg, are not doing . The Manhattan District Attorney's Office downgraded 938 of the most serious felony charges, even reducing 834 of them to simple misdemeanors. This means, according to the Daily Mail, which had access to the report, that 60% of the charges that reached the office of Bragg or his collaborators came out as less serious than what they received, and that 53% were reduced to minor crimes.

A policy that contrasts with the trend of increasing crime in the Big Apple. According to the Police Department, about 250 more violent crimes were recorded in 2023 than in 2022 (10,547 compared to 10,298). However, the Prosecutor's Office defends its position, claiming that its figures are better than in other districts. Something that the police unions do not exactly agree on, which sparked a crisis after Bragg's decision to release without bail the immigrants who savagely beat up two police officers.

"Prosecutor Bragg is on the side of repeat offenders"

Faced with these statements, the police unions publicly denounced last year that "Prosecutor Bragg is not on your side , he is on the side of repeat offenders." You cannot try to remove a shoplifter from your store, a disorderly from your store, because you will be arrested. And when you call 911 for that police officer to protect you, that police officer will be arrested and be indicted" Hendry noted in 2023 after the arrest of a police officer who beat a man who was harassing customers at an Apple store to which access was prohibited.