BUFFALO (WBEN) - As violence continues to escalate in Buffalo, some are pointing fingers at aspects of New York's Bail Reform laws as part of the reason for an increase in shootings.
"People that are arrested with an illegal handgun are our shooting victims the very next day," Buffalo Police Captain Jeff Rinaldo said earlier this month. "Our shooting victims on Wednesday are our gun defendants on Thursday."
There were 21 victims of gun violence in Buffalo during July 4th weekend, including a 3-year-old boy who died after being shot while watching fireworks.
"There are elements of bail reform that make sense," said Brown. "A kid that steals something from a store shouldn't sit in jail for months and months and months. Somebody who is caught with an illegal gun multiple times shouldn't keep getting out on the street. Someone that's broken into your home last week, you shouldn't be bumping into in your neighborhood in a couple of days.
"There are elements of of bail reform that are not working, that have to be changed," he continued. "Some elements are working, but spilling people who are violent back out on the streets is not helpful to our community."
However, some state lawmakers such as Sean Ryan aren't convinced there's a direct correlation between the recent uptick in gun violence and bail reform.
"Since we've done bail reform, there's been this question of 'we feel this and we feel that,'" Ryan said. "But we like data. Let's look at some data and if there's problems with it, we're always willing to re-adjust. Sometimes when there's things going on that people can't explain, they try to scapegoat something. I would go back and look at the Buffalo Police Department's and their closure rates for homicide. How are we doing on our closure rates? Instead of looking at items like that, they want to blame some externality. Right now, Buffalo does not have a good closure rates on some of these crimes. I think we should double down on efforts of trying to prevent and solve crimes that have already existed."
Erie County District Attorney John Flynn believes bail reform is a contributing factor to the rising gun violence in the city. However, he also said it's not entirely to blame because other major cities that are seeing a rise in gun crime, such as Chicago, do not have bail reform laws.
While criminal possession of a weapon is a qualifying offense that allows judges to set bail, Flynn said the bail reform system now makes it easier for those charged to post bail, which obviously means many arrested on weapons charges are soon back on the streets.
Peacekeepers Coordinator and Pastor James Giles also touched on bail reform, saying he supported the measure prior to its passage, and while there are positive aspects of the reforms, he also believes some of it has gone too far in the other direction.
"This is what happens when you have legislators who are far removed and don't engage communities in the process to be able to factor in all these other elements in the process, creating the parameters for these policies," said Giles. "We never intended for individuals that are carrying weapons to be arrested and then be released immediately and still be carrying weapons, and we know that is happening here. It's about changing the way these laws are being enacted in this community as well."
