Manhattan DA Bypasses Bail In Nonviolent Cases To Help Rikers

New York City NY

29 September, 2021

2:49 PM

Description

NEW YORK — Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance directed prosecutors not to ask for bail in some nonviolent criminal cases — a move to ease conditions at Rikers Island. The directive first reported by ABC7 comes as Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Bill de Blasio work to move Rikers inmates from what many call a "humanitarian crisis" at the infamous jail. Vance's office decided "to suspend asking for bail on non-violent crimes committed by non-violent offenders, in circumstances that do not implicate the safety of other people," a memo from Assistant D.A. Andrew Warshawer said. "We should continue, when appropriate, to ask for Supervised Release and other non-monetary conditions." The memo obtained by Patch acknowledges releasing individuals could lead to more low-level crime. De Blasio said during a news conference Wednesday that he had not seen the directive from Vance's office. He said he hoped it would strike a balance between public safety and the need to alleviate the situation at Rikers. "Obviously, if we're having a particular challenge at Rikers, it's not the time to send someone there if there's not a reason," he said. "But when it particularly comes to anything involving violent crime or more serious crime, I would be very, very careful, because we've come a long way, improving the public safety situation in the course of this year, but we've got more work to do." The Rikers crisis has only escalated in recent days and weeks. Hochul on Tuesday signed an executive order declaring a disaster emergency due to conditions at Rikers. The correctional facility has been short-staffed in recent months, and conditions there "have led to an unsafe, life-threatening environment for both the inmates and the staff," the order reads. Twelve incarcerated people died at Rikers this year. Two weeks ago, Hochul announced nearly 400 inmates would be transferred out of Rikers and into state-run facilities. About 185 inmates have been released, and 125 transferred, as of Tuesday. "The state has been working with us to make sure that we get as many folks out of Rikers as possible in a safe and appropriate way now," de Blasio said at a news conference Wednesday. De Blasio visited Rikers on Monday and said he believes the jail population will be reduced to 5,000 in the coming weeks. The mayor said a small number — seven, to be exact — of people with city sentences will be released, as well. "We've done a careful review with the NYPD and district attorneys," he said. "It's a small number of people to begin with. We're going to be careful and thoughtful about these releases. There are seven individuals who will be released in the next 24 to 48 hours." He emphasized that the ongoing efforts by the state to "drive down the population" are the key to alleviating the problem. Patch writer Matt Troutman contributed to this report.