Gov. Hochul: Repealing Bail Law ‘Is Such a Simplistic Approach’ and ‘People Are Smarter than That’

EXCERPT:

HOCHUL: “Again, that is such a simplistic approach. It negates the fact that it’s about how we support law enforcement. He voted against — he wouldn’t support funding for the police. I tripled the amount of money for law enforcement. We’re supporting violence disruptor programs. To say that you’re just going to change one part of the system, it shows a naivete that is not going to be a real solution. So, we did make targeted changes to the bail laws covering gun cases and repeat offenders. That has all been in effect for just a few months now because of what I was able to accomplish in the budget. I’m always willing to look at it again,, but the data is not showing that that is the cause of this. There are individual cases. But compared to pre-pandemic and when this was passed, I don’t think there’s a real disparity. But that doesn’t matter. We’re dealing with people’s feelings here and I understand that. I’m a mother. You’re hard-wired to care about your children and your family’s safety, so voters need to know that we have a plan, we’re working on this, and just putting up ads that say you have the answer when you really don’t, when you don’t think we should be getting guns off the streets, you want to give guns to every teacher, you want guns in the subways, that is just irrational to think that that will make people safer. I think people need to know what’s on the line here, is someone who’s been working in the trenches, rolling up her sleeves, getting the job done, and not just running around the state saying all you have to do is repeal a bail law and all the crime will disappear. I think the people are smarter than that.”