This year’s increase in crime on Staten Island is wholly unacceptable, and I join my neighbors, family, friends, colleagues, and all who call our borough home in their frustration.
Every Staten Islander deserves to be safe from crime and deserves to feel safe as they go about their lives.
We know we have work to do to return to that reality and meet the challenges we face because of misguided and harmful policies visited upon us by outside forces.
In fact, this was our reality as recently as 2019, when our beloved borough enjoyed record-low crime numbers.
Unfortunately, idealistic and naive legislators alongside their anarchist advocate backers seized on this opportunity to rewrite our state and city’s criminal justice apparatus, leaving one hand tied behind the back of prosecutors, the morale of our brave law enforcement professionals damaged, and a severe reduction in accountability for lawbreakers.
Staten Island has been hurt by these devastating policy decisions.
“Raise the Age” has led to a boroughwide jump in juvenile crime of over 20% and a total lack of accountability for teenage lawbreakers in Criminal Court.
Bail reform has meant repeat offenders charged with hundreds of crimes, including assault, felony drug sales, and commercial burglary, who were previously eligible to be held pre-trial, are now mandated to be released.
Discovery reform has led to a mass exodus of experienced, effective assistant district attorneys who have left for salaries that our office simply cannot provide, and freedom from overly onerous discovery obligations foisted upon us without a cent of funding until recent months.
While we continue to adapt and deal with Albany’s legislative malpractice, Staten Island is also a victim of our own success and hard-earned reputation for safety.
While this year’s 16% increase in index crimes is a stark figure, it equals a mere 1.3 more index crimes per day.
This year, the NYPD has taken 87,404 index crime reports, only 2,604 of which have come from Staten Island. Put another way, 97% of crime in New York City occurs away from Staten Island.
We are encouraged that Staten Island has received an influx of new police officers and other uniformed NYPD personnel in recent months, and are confident their hard work will continue to yield benefits in crime prevention, apprehending lawbreakers, and solving crime as well.
But the truth is we are not at the staffing levels we need and have had in the past.
We are also encouraged that Staten Island is outpacing the city in reducing the number of stolen cars, an issue that has hit home for far too many of our neighbors and that we have dedicated significant resources and manpower to in recent months.
I, along with the 200-plus members of my office and the incredible public servants of the NYPD, am committed to reversing this tide, restoring safety and the feeling of security that all Staten Islanders deserve, and maintaining our borough’s rightful place as the safest community of its size in the nation.
We will continue to do all we can to convince Albany to fix the mess they have created, to secure justice in the courtroom, to get the resources we need to deal with those who tend to commit crimes, and to equip the public with the know-how on how to protect themselves and their families from would-be lawbreakers.
Nothing is more important to me, and we will not rest in our pursuit of public safety for all of our neighborhoods.
Michael McMahon is Staten Island’s district attorney.
