Make no mistake about it: they are afraid. Very afraid. For the
state’s new bail reform bill threatens to undermine what our bloated elected
officials have spent decades constructing: the machinery of mass incarceration
that siphons funds for health and social services into policing and jailing
innocent persons.
The new bail bill is straightforward: most of those charged with misdemeanor and
non-violent crimes will no longer be given high cash bails. Over 70 percent of
the persons in the local jail are rotting there because they can’t afford
bail. And many–indeed most by the
Sheriff’s and District Attorney’s own accounts–have substance use or mental
health problems for which there is little if any treatment in the community. The
wealthy among us, of course, don’t have this problem: they can post the high bails and afford private
medical treatment. They walk free to
await trial, while the poor and sick linger in the jail.
The bill comes into effect on January 1. Sheriff Harder estimates it will free 120 persons
from the jail; USA today estimates 150;
Vera Institute, a research group, estimates up to 80% of the 410 or so
persons in the jail now might come home. These numbers are higher than expected.
The prospect before us nevertheless remains that the jail–enlarged
at a cost of $7million in 2015 to hold over 600 persons–may soon hold far less
than half that amount. The cost of building
and running the jail, not to mention additional policing and court costs, has
grown year after year under both Republican and Democrat County Executives:
Rolling back these operations threatens the power base of
Sheriffs, Undersheriffs, and Mayors whose powers and influence have grown fat
on the institutions of mass incarceration.
State Senator, former County Undersheriff, and current patrolman Frederick
J. Akshar II unleashed an inflamed blast yesterday, calling the bill “nothing
more but a criminal’s bill of rights”:
“The misguided and overreaching bail reform laws
enacted by New York’s One Party Rule will go into effect, handing out new “get-out-of-jail-free”
cards for an exceedingly long list of crimes…[1]
At least we know that the Senator plays monopoly, where wealth, as in the bail and political systems, rules.
Binghamton Mayor Richard David, who has significantly expanded
the city’s police force year after year even as crime rates fall, leads a
statewide group of Mayors to oppose the bill and related justice reforms.[2]
Broome County Sheriff David Harder has done the same with Sheriff Associations.[3] Democrat
Congressman Brindisi, looking to the next election, has added his voice to the opposition
to reform as well.[4]
These efforts are not likely to be successful: communities across the state have rallied to roll back the mass incarceration and mass policing that have unnecessarily jailed tens of thousands in our debtor’s jails and prisons.
What should we do? We
might follow Justice and Unity for the Southern Tier’s local call to reduce the
jail population by at least 70 percent, and plan immediately to reallocate 50%
of the jail’s annual budget, at least $15 million, to community-based services
and needs.[5] Providing health and treatment services for
our residents, rather than pretending incarceration can solve health problems and
the lack of housing and jobs, hasn’t served us well. Its time to move on. This is a time of opportunity. We should
seize it.
************************************
Justice and Unity for the Southern
Tier: Key
Objectives (November 2019)
• Reduce the jail population by at least 70% by implementing fully the new state law effectively ending cash bail, providing ample community treatment facilities and other substantive alternatives to incarceration, and prioritizing the release of individuals requiring treatment for substance use, disabilities, and mental health issues
• Reduce the jail budget in the coming three years by 50%, and use this annual amount of over $15 million for services to over-incarcerated communities, including mental health services, substance use and recovery facilities, and housing
• Create an independent, empowered, oversight body for the jail, comprised of independent medical experts, the formerly incarcerated, and impacted community members
County legislators expected criticism, but the arrest of 10 persons at the Broome County Legislature on November 21st startled many, including myself.[1] At issue was a proposal for a new law, which protestors from multiple community organizations called the police “annoy” bill or “censorship” bill.
Local legislators at the meeting were however insistent:
Broome County needs a law to protect firefighters and EMT workers from being harassed
on the job. The possible penalty for
being annoying? A year in jail and a $5,000
fine. And to top that off, legislators pushed a resolution to support a state bill
that would turn such assaults into a special category of a “hate crime”.[2]
But let’s be real and face the evidence. The aim of these
bills is simple: to attack rising public criticism of the sheriff, the jail administration,
and the local police.
And these bills don’t appear by chance: they join the growing
statewide project by Mayors, District Attorneys, and local representatives[3]–from
Sheriff Harder[4] to newly-elected Democratic representative Brindisi[5]—
to undermine the new bail, speedy trial, and discovery laws that come into
effect on January 1.
The Broome County annoyance bill fits right in, taking aim
at growing protests by multiple community organizations at deaths and abuse in
the jails, unaccountable and harsh policing in schools and on our streets, and
the long-term diversion of funds from mental health and drug treatment into
policing and jailing residents by the thousands. The new bill would counter this directly by criminalizing
anyone who annoys or harasses police.
County legislators struggled to deny this, stressing the aim
was to protect “first defenders” and not police. The Chair of the Legislature Dan Reynolds told
the gathered crowd retorted that
“We have been talking about this
for a while and one of the reasons it came up was because of firefighters. It
was firefighters, paramedics, it wasn’t law enforcement.”[6]
Mention of police or the Sheriff was studiously avoided,
even as the room was packed to capacity
with 120+ protestors and surrounded by dozens of fully armed State Police, City
Police, and Broome County Sheriffs;
County Sheriff Harder looked on stonily from a chair to the side. Mobile
command posts and paddy wagons were parked outside. But this had nothing, the
crowd was told, to do with the Sheriff or the police.
There were no such attempts at deception when the bill was introduced at a press conference in October. Reynolds then introduced the bill standing alongside not firefighters or EMT personnel, but next to Binghamton Mayor Richard David and former Broome County Undersheriff, and current part-time patrolman, Senator Akshar. Reynolds at that time was quite clear: the bill was explicitly modeled after and designed to support Akshar’s Senate bill that would make harassment of police a hate crime.[7]
Designating the police as an oppressed minority takes a fevered
imagination. Hate crime statutes were constructed to address violent acts against
members of groups that have historically been discriminated against because of
race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender. Defining overwhelming
white and male police forces as an oppressed group is wildly Orwellian,
especially in Broome County. At the Broome County Jail, the Correctional
Officer force is 97.5%
white.[8] Binghamton’s police force has been built along
the same lines. As the Press and Sun-Bulletinhas
reported, “Among the ranks of the 138-member Binghamton Police Department,
13 officers are women and three are black. If the department reflected the
city’s demographics, 69 officers would be women and 21 would be black.”[9] As
a Times Union editorial has pointed
out,[10] the
bill was an obvious response to the Black Lives Matter protest around the
state. Senator Akshar has a growing list
of such supports for Sheriffs and Police Chiefs—as in in his effort to expand
the other end of the school to prison pipeline[11]
by spending $200 million on police for all schools in the state.[12]
Its absurd. But still the legislators retort with a second
line of defense: firefighting and policing are dangerous jobs. They are. But how dangerous? And where? At
the legislative meeting proponents for the bill read a long list of the number
of firefighters and EMT staff who were injured on the job across the
country. But no local cases were
mentioned. Not a single instance of the harassment
preventing local EMT or firefighters from doing their job could be presented.
Senator Akshar and others counter by repeating that policing, at least, is highly dangerous and is growing more so. Yet let’s be clear: this is false. As reported by many federal sources and prominently in the media,[17] police and sheriff officers do NOT rank in the even the top ten most dangerous jobs. Akshar and his supporters go further to claim attacks on and deaths of police officers are increasing, making this law necessary. But this is NOT true either. The numbers and rate of felonious deaths of police have been falling since 1970 as data from the Officer Down Memorial Page and others indicates.[18] In the last ten years in the entire country about 50 officers die each year of accidents, and 50 of felonious assaults; the numbers rise and fall slightly year to year:[19]
Locally, in the last ten years one officer total has
been reported killed in the combined police forces of the City of Binghamton,
Broome County, Johnson City, Binghamton University, and Vestal.[20]
Contrast these numbers with the number of estimated persons killed by police
officers, disproportionately youth of color:
a steady 900-1000 per year.[21]
These disparities, and the resistance of city, county and school
board officials to provide any transparency and accountability around policing
and the jail, has led to steadily growing community criticism. It certainly annoys, even harasses, isolated local
officials. Progressive Leaders of Tomorrow has in the last several years
mightily annoyed the police and the local school board, protesting the harassment,
detention, and arrest of Black and Latinx members of the community. The NAACP has filed a lawsuit. Justice and Unity for the Southern tier has
mounted ever-larger public meetings across the county, and rallies and protests
outside the jail and at county meetings. Families of those who have suffered brutal
deaths in the jail have filed lawsuits as well, and are winning them. Truth
Pharm has marched as well, rallying community members to demand that those with
substance use disorders get access to treatment and not county jail cells.
Passing new laws won’t legitimize the illegitimate. It is
time county legislators turn their efforts to serve the people of the county
and not those commanding and benefiting from the machinery of mass incarceration.
Notes
[1]
Among the press reports see “Nine Arrested during Protest at Broome
County Legislative Chambers against Proposed Law – Pipe Dream,” accessed
November 30, 2019,
https://www.bupipedream.com/news/112892/nine-arrested-during-protest-at-broome-county-legislative-chambers-against-proposed-law/;
Anthony Borrelli, “‘Annoy the Police’: How a Proposed Law Led to Protest,
Arrests in Binghamton,” Pressconnects, accessed December 4, 2019,
https://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/public-safety/2019/11/22/broome-county-legislature-protesters-arrested-emergency-responder-harassment-protection-law-plot/4269709002/;
“Protests Erupt Over Proposed Law to Protect Broome Co. First Responders,”
accessed December 4, 2019,
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/news/2019/11/22/first-responders-protection-act-broome-county.
[2] “NY State Senate Bill S335,” NY State
Senate, January 3, 2019, https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2019/s335.
[3] “New York Law Enforcement Critical of
Criminal Justice Reforms,” WGRZ, accessed December 4, 2019,
https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/crime/new-york-law-enforcement-critical-of-criminal-justice-reforms/71-1704b66c-737c-49e2-9c7c-e00d8516527c.
[4] “Broome County Sheriff Opposes Bail
Elimination Act, but Local Organizations Voice Support Following Jail Deaths –
Pipe Dream,” accessed December 4, 2019,
https://www.bupipedream.com/news/112897/broome-county-sheriff-opposes-bail-elimination-act-but-local-organizations-voice-support-following-jail-deaths/.
[5] Celia Clarke, “Reed, Brindisi Say NY
Criminal Justice Reforms Ignore The Rights Of Crime Victims,” WSKG, accessed
December 4, 2019,
https://wskg.org/news/reed-brindisi-say-ny-criminal-justice-reforms-ignore-the-rights-of-crime-victims/.
[6] “Nine Arrested during Protest at Broome
County Legislative Chambers against Proposed Law – Pipe Dream,” accessed
November 30, 2019,
https://www.bupipedream.com/news/112892/nine-arrested-during-protest-at-broome-county-legislative-chambers-against-proposed-law/.
[7] Amy Hogan, “Broome Legislature Proposals
Aim To Protect Police, First Responders, From Harassment On The Job,” accessed
November 30, 2019,
http://www.wicz.com/story/41228658/broome-legislature-proposals-aim-to-protect-police-first-responders-from-harassment-on-the-job.
[8] “Whose White at the BC Jail? We Don’t
Know? – JUST Talk,” accessed December 4, 2019,
https://justtalk.blog/index.php/2018/09/14/whose-white-at-the-bc-jail-we-dont-know/.
[9] Anthony Borrelli, “DIVERSITY IN THE
RANKS: City Boosts Police Recruiting,” Pressconnects, accessed December 4,
2019,
https://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/public-safety/2016/09/27/diversity-ranks-city-boosts-police-recruiting/90918278/.
[10] “Editorial: Don’t Dilute Hate Crime
Laws,” Times Union, May 20, 2019,
https://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Editorial-Don-t-dilute-hate-crime-laws-13858014.php.
[11] “The Binghamton School to Prison Pipeline
– JUST Talk,” accessed November 30, 2019,
https://justtalk.blog/index.php/2019/01/25/the-binghamton-school-to-prison-pipeline/.
[12] “Broome’s Schools & the Cost of Fear
– JUST Talk,” accessed November 30, 2019,
https://justtalk.blog/index.php/2019/05/04/broomes-schools-and-the-cost-of-fear/. Akshar has a raft of such
proposals to support more policing even as crime rates fall everywhere—as in in
his effort to expand the other end of the school to prison pipeline[12] by
spending $200 million on police for all schools in the state.[12]
[13] “Police Watch: October 14, 2019 – Pipe
Dream,” accessed December 4, 2019,
https://www.bupipedream.com/news/110945/police-watch-october-14-2019/.
[14] web October 15 and 2019 at 1:29 Pm, “Harder
Falls, Salladin Barton Vindicated – JUST Talk,” accessed December 4, 2019,
https://justtalk.blog/index.php/2019/08/29/harder-falls-salladin-barton-vindicated/.
[15] Ashley Biviano, “Binghamton High School
Student Says Staff Assaulted Him, Used Racial Slur,” Pressconnects, accessed
December 4, 2019,
https://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/local/2018/09/28/black-student-assaulted-bhs-staff-leaving-wrong-doors/1334218002/.
[16] Amy Hogan, “A Second Binghamton Police
Officer Files Racial Discrimination Complaint Against City, Police Chief,”
accessed December 4, 2019,
http://www.wicz.com/story/41370581/a-second-binghamton-police-officer-files-racial-discrimination-complaint-against-city-police-chief.
[17] Samuel Stebbins Stockdale Evan Comen and
Charles, “Workplace Fatalities: 25 Most Dangerous Jobs in America,” USA TODAY,
accessed November 30, 2019,
http://247wallst.com/special-report/2018/01/02/25-most-dangerous-jobs-in-america.
Dennis Bratland – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54678050
[19] Niall McCarthy, “The Number Of U.S.
Police Officers Killed In The Line Of Duty Increased Last Year [Infographic],”
Forbes, accessed November 30, 2019,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2019/05/08/the-number-of-u-s-police-officers-killed-in-the-line-of-duty-increased-last-year-infographic/.
[20] “New York Line of Duty Deaths,” The
Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP), accessed November 30, 2019,
https://www.odmp.org/search/browse.
[21] “Fatal Force: 2018 Police Shootings
Database,” Washington Post, accessed November 30, 2019,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/national/police-shootings-2018/.
References
Biviano, Ashley. “Binghamton High School Student Says Staff Assaulted
Him, Used Racial Slur.” Pressconnects. Accessed December 4, 2019.
https://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/local/2018/09/28/black-student-assaulted-bhs-staff-leaving-wrong-doors/1334218002/.
Borrelli, Anthony. “‘Annoy the Police’:
How a Proposed Law Led to Protest, Arrests in Binghamton.” Pressconnects.
Accessed December 4, 2019.
https://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/public-safety/2019/11/22/broome-county-legislature-protesters-arrested-emergency-responder-harassment-protection-law-plot/4269709002/.
———. “DIVERSITY IN THE RANKS: City Boosts
Police Recruiting.” Pressconnects. Accessed December 4, 2019.
https://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/public-safety/2016/09/27/diversity-ranks-city-boosts-police-recruiting/90918278/.
“Broome County Sheriff Opposes Bail
Elimination Act, but Local Organizations Voice Support Following Jail Deaths –
Pipe Dream.” Accessed December 4, 2019.
https://www.bupipedream.com/news/112897/broome-county-sheriff-opposes-bail-elimination-act-but-local-organizations-voice-support-following-jail-deaths/.
“Broome’s Schools & the Cost of Fear
– JUST Talk.” Accessed November 30, 2019.
https://justtalk.blog/index.php/2019/05/04/broomes-schools-and-the-cost-of-fear/.
Clarke, Celia. “Reed, Brindisi Say NY
Criminal Justice Reforms Ignore The Rights Of Crime Victims.” WSKG. Accessed
December 4, 2019.
https://wskg.org/news/reed-brindisi-say-ny-criminal-justice-reforms-ignore-the-rights-of-crime-victims/.
Times Union. “Editorial: Don’t Dilute
Hate Crime Laws,” May 20, 2019.
https://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Editorial-Don-t-dilute-hate-crime-laws-13858014.php.
Washington Post. “Fatal Force: 2018
Police Shootings Database.” Accessed November 30, 2019.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/national/police-shootings-2018/.
Hogan, Amy. “A Second Binghamton Police
Officer Files Racial Discrimination Complaint Against City, Police Chief.”
Accessed December 4, 2019.
http://www.wicz.com/story/41370581/a-second-binghamton-police-officer-files-racial-discrimination-complaint-against-city-police-chief.
———. “Broome Legislature Proposals Aim To
Protect Police, First Responders, From Harassment On The Job.” Accessed
November 30, 2019.
http://www.wicz.com/story/41228658/broome-legislature-proposals-aim-to-protect-police-first-responders-from-harassment-on-the-job.
McCarthy, Niall. “The Number Of U.S.
Police Officers Killed In The Line Of Duty Increased Last Year [Infographic].”
Forbes. Accessed November 30, 2019.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2019/05/08/the-number-of-u-s-police-officers-killed-in-the-line-of-duty-increased-last-year-infographic/.
WGRZ. “New York Law Enforcement Critical
of Criminal Justice Reforms.” Accessed December 4, 2019.
https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/crime/new-york-law-enforcement-critical-of-criminal-justice-reforms/71-1704b66c-737c-49e2-9c7c-e00d8516527c.
The Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP).
“New York Line of Duty Deaths.” Accessed November 30, 2019.
https://www.odmp.org/search/browse.
“Nine Arrested during Protest at Broome
County Legislative Chambers against Proposed Law – Pipe Dream.” Accessed
November 30, 2019.
https://www.bupipedream.com/news/112892/nine-arrested-during-protest-at-broome-county-legislative-chambers-against-proposed-law/.
NY State Senate. “NY State Senate Bill
S335,” January 3, 2019. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2019/s335.
October 15, web, and 2019 at 1:29 Pm.
“Harder Falls, Salladin Barton Vindicated – JUST Talk.” Accessed December 4,
2019.
https://justtalk.blog/index.php/2019/08/29/harder-falls-salladin-barton-vindicated/.
“Police Watch: October 14, 2019 – Pipe
Dream.” Accessed December 4, 2019.
https://www.bupipedream.com/news/110945/police-watch-october-14-2019/.
“Protests Erupt Over Proposed Law to
Protect Broome Co. First Responders.” Accessed December 4, 2019.
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/news/2019/11/22/first-responders-protection-act-broome-county.
Stockdale, Samuel Stebbins, Evan Comen
and Charles. “Workplace Fatalities: 25 Most Dangerous Jobs in America.” USA
TODAY. Accessed November 30, 2019. http://247wallst.com/special-report/2018/01/02/25-most-dangerous-jobs-in-america.
“The Binghamton School to Prison Pipeline
– JUST Talk.” Accessed November 30, 2019.
https://justtalk.blog/index.php/2019/01/25/the-binghamton-school-to-prison-pipeline/.
“Whose White at the BC Jail? We Don’t Know?
– JUST Talk.” Accessed December 4, 2019.
https://justtalk.blog/index.php/2018/09/14/whose-white-at-the-bc-jail-we-dont-know/.
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