BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - In the wake of rising gun violence in Buffalo, is it time to address the state's controversial bail reforms?
When the bail reforms passed in Albany in 2019, its goal was to end mass incarceration at the local level. To do this, lawmakers voted to prevent bail on non-qualifying offenses, such as misdemeanors and non-violent felonies. However, judges are allowed discretion in whether a defendant is eligible to post bail. Bail is still required for those accused of violent crimes like murder, manslaughter, rape, sexual abuse, and more.
You can see a list of non-qualifying offenses here. Buffalo Police and the Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said bail reforms have contributed to the rise in shootings in the city but are not the sole reason.
"People that are arrested with an illegal handgun are our shooting victims the very next day," Buffalo Police Captain Jeff Rinaldo said earlier this week. "Our shooting victims on Wednesday are our gun defendants on Thursday."
Anecdotal evidence from law enforcement about the reforms impact on crime are often mentioned, but specific data was not immediately available to back up those claims. We asked Buffalo Police and the DA's office on Wednesday for information that links gun charges like criminal possession of a firearm to any of the shootings in 2021.
The DA's office said there has been 334 arrests with a charge of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the second degree.
Criminal possession of a weapon is one of the crimes that requires bail.
"Nobody who is involved with gun related crimes is not going to be held without bail," State Senator Sean Ryan said.
Whenever there is a case involving illegal gun possession, prosecutors in Erie County usually asks for a defendant to be remanded or for a high bail to be set. Most of the time, a judge sets a bail, though it is often posted by the defendant, meaning they are back out on the streets.
"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."
State Senator Patrick Gallivan wants lawmakers to act on bail reform.
"There's no question we need to constantly look at all of our laws, including those related to criminal justice, and the bail laws to ensure that people are indeed treated fairly," Gallivan said. "When we do that, we have to look at the entire picture. It's not fair to change laws to favor offenders at the expense of law-abiding citizens. That's what our criminal justice policy in New York State has done over the past several years...It needs to change."
Ryan said no one knows the long-term solution to gun violence in major cities.
"We had a very good run of reduction in violent crimes in America that lasted for about 20 years," Ryan said. "Pre-pandemic, we were still in that state. But something happened during the pandemic. I'm not sure what it is."
