Mayor Eric Adams ripped into Albany lawmakers on Friday who are blocking his bid to give judges the power to remand suspects deemed a threat to the community after a teenager accused of shooting at a cop in the Bronx was cut loose on bond.
“New Yorkers should all be outraged that a repeat offender, accused of shooting at a police officer, is today walking free on bond because judges are precluded from even considering danger to the community, like every other state and our federal courts,” Adams said.
“It is further proof that our current system is failing us.”
Adams’ explosive statement then explicitly referenced the Friday funeral of slain NYPD Detective Jason Rivera, who along with fellow Officer Wilbert Mora was gunned down in a Harlem apartment last week in an attack that police officials described as an “ambush.”
Rivera’s widow slammed Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg for similar soft-on-crime policies, saying in her husband’s eulogy, “We are not safe anymore, not even the members of the service. I know you were tired of these laws, especially the ones from the new DA. I hope he’s watching you speak through me right now.”
In his rebuke of Albany leaders after the funeral, Adams said: “Today of all days, with the city in mourning over the deaths of Detective First-Grade Jason Rivera and Police Officer Wilbert Mora, we all must come together and agree that changes are needed. We cannot allow those who carry guns to walk free — we can pursue safety and justice at the same time, and we must, for the safety of all of us.”
His statement came just hours after 16-year-old Camrin Williams was sprung from the juvenile lockup in the South Bronx where he was being held on $200,000 bail on felony assault and gun charges.
Sources told The Post the aspiring rapper used a recently signed record deal with Interscope Records as collateral to bounce out of the lockup.
The NYPD initially detained him on murder charges that were subsequently reduced by the Bronx District Attorney’s Office.
However, prosecutors did ask Judge Denis Boyle to remand Williams. Boyle instead set bail, which Williams met by obtaining a $250,000 bond.
Police unions filleted Boyle on Thursday for not locking up Williams to await trail — but the state’s court system turned around and pointed the finger at lawmakers in Albany who passed controversial legislation in 2019 aimed at reducing pre-trial detention.
The court system has repeatedly argued the law’s requirement that judges use the “least restrictive” option available that will “reasonably assure” defendants will return to court ties their hands — even when dealing with charges where magistrates can still order bail or remand.
Lawmakers have rebuffed the argument, accusing judges of not fully implementing their powers under the law, though independent analysis from criminal justice reform groups appears to back the court system’s interpretation.
“In short, even where it is allowed, the legislation strongly discourages money bail or detention absent a clear justification linked to court attendance,” the Center for Court Innovation determined in an April 2019 report.
Adams’ statement is sure to supercharge the contentious back-and-forth between lawmakers and judges.
The mayor leaped into that fray with both feet this week when he made giving the judiciary the power to consider a suspect’s dangerousness a key part of his plan to reverse the surge in gun violence across the city, which he rolled out Monday.
