December 4, 2015
The bail system in New York City needs an overhaul. The problem, according to many involved in the criminal justice system, is that bail is set by judges who apparently don’t have the time to take a look at the specifics of each defendant’s case, including the defendant’s financial means. The result is that bail is simply out of reach for many who are arrested, even for non-violent offenses. Specifically, the bail system which had […] Read On
December 3, 2015
It was a Sunday afternoon in September, when several calls were made to the police to report an MTA bus weaving from lane to lane on the Northern State Parkway in Nassau County, Long Island. A trooper in Farmingdale, NY pulled the bus over, and he found Alexander Copeland behind the wheel. Mr. Copeland has been employed by the MTA as a bus driver for 17 years, and currently is assigned to a route in […] Read On
When you think about a particular geographical area being “first” in a category, it’s often something to be proud of. But in the case of Suffolk County, and to a lesser degree in Nassau County, the superlatives are actually pretty devastating, at least when it comes to drunk driving. Here are a couple of significant facts on the issue: Every year since 2001 (that’s fifteen consecutive years), Suffolk has been number one among all the […] Read On
November 30, 2015
You may recall allegations against various banks – notably HSBC and others – for money laundering and violation of U.S. trade sanctions. Interestingly, the criminal cases against the banks (HSBC, Standard Chartered and BNP Paribas), have led to a windfall for the Manhattan D.A.’s office. District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. has announced a number of programs to be funded by the more than $800 million in criminal penalties collected from the banks. The money must […] Read On
August 26, 2015
Based on the reports we’ve been seeing for the last couple of months, you’d think that the Big Apple has turned into the Wild West. Every day, more reports of shootings hit the news. Well, it’s true that gun violence is a problem in New York City, but that’s not the whole story – shootings make headlines, but reports of decreases in crime don’t sell newspapers, or even website ads, for that matter. So we […] Read On
August 24, 2015
A wild carjacking took place in New York this week. Police say that a 41-year old man approached a woman driving an SUV on a street in upper Manhattan and threatened her with a brick. She apparently complied with the man’s demand and exited the vehicle, at which point he allegedly jumped in the car and drove it to East Harlem. At that point the man’s wife flagged down a patrol car and told the […] Read On
July 28, 2015
Statistics can be both interesting and informative. The biggest challenge is often taking the numbers and gleaning some meaning from them. We hear a lot about crime statistics. They are used to promote tougher gun laws, for example. They are also used to evaluate the performance of a police department, its precincts, commanders and other officers. The stats end up being sent over to the FBI and placed in their crime stats reports. And the numbers […] Read On
July 15, 2015
In a move that is sure to engender a negative response from some groups, Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced a new policy on bail for certain low-level and non-violent detainees in New York City. This past week, the Mayor said that from this point forward, instead of bail, the suspects would be supervised and in some cases sent to drug counseling, but allowed to remain free even though they would have been unable to […] Read On
June 25, 2015
Crime is up in New York, and we’re told that nowhere has this been felt more than in the City’s subway system. If fact, subway crime is up close to 20% in the past month, compared to the same period last year. Statistics on the subject include subway robberies which are up by 65% over the past month, although they are up by only 10% this year. Assaults are also on the rise. Other recent […] Read On
June 23, 2015
When New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio campaigned for his current post, he proposed changes in the city’s “stop and frisk” policy. This angered the cops, who told us that the policy was critical to fighting crime in the Big Apple. And with the increase in shootings in New York to date this year, critics are zooming in on a chance to say “I told you so.” Not so fast, according to the mayor. […] Read On