New York Republicans floated a bill Wednesday to hand out $10 million per year in federal grants to states and localities to target repeat offenders, according to a draft exclusively obtained by The Post.
The Empire State GOP delegation introduced the SERVE Our Communities Act to incentivize the jurisdictions between fiscal years 2026 and 2031 “to prioritize law enforcement and public safety” by repealing “misguided” bail policies and other “harmful” effects of criminal justice reform.
“We must end the ongoing cycle of crime caused by Albany’s bail reform policies, which prioritize criminals over law-abiding New Yorkers,” Rep. Claudia Tenney, the lead co-sponsor, told The Post.
“I am honored to lead my New York Republican colleagues in introducing this legislation, which works to support our law enforcement officers and enhances public safety.”
Repeat offenders have dogged New York City and other jurisdictions run by progressive prosecutors, many of whom seek to eliminate bail and downgrade an array of charges.
Nearly 1 in 5 criminals (19.1%) reoffend, per statistics shared this year by the New York Department of Corrections, and New York is in the minority of US states where judges are not been able to take into account the danger of defendants when determining bail.
Two days into the new year, a woman was charged with stabbing a postal worker to death for cutting her in line at a Harlem deli. She’d had a history of knife violence — and been arrested at least five times before.
The House bill authorizes the DOJ block grants only for states and localities that allow judges “to consider the danger an individual poses to the community when determining bail or pretrial release conditions.”
Eligible jurisdictions must also hire and retain more cops and prosecutors and run public education programs to crack down on “anti-police sentiment and improve community-police relations,” which have deteriorated since the killing of George Floyd led to nationwide riots and calls to “defund the police.”
At least 147 law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty last year, according to preliminary data from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund released Dec. 31, up 25% from 2023.
Last August, another repeat offender — who was out on probation with past arrests for assault and burglary — slugged a rookie cop in a wild, caught-on-camera attack in the Bronx.
Progressive criminal justice advocates have long agitated against cash bail and other policies leading to increased rates of incarceration.
Critics have countered that even repeat nonviolent and misdemeanor criminals are likely to reoffend — and can later commit violent crimes when they do.
“Let’s be clear: Nonviolent, first-time offenders deserve a second chance,” former NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said in 2022.
“However, judges should be given the ability to hold career and violent criminals in custody pending trial. We need to maintain the reforms we all agree on — yet at the same time, pull together to keep New Yorkers from being harmed. Our collective focus must be on the victims of crime.”
During his first year in office, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg only pushed for culprits to be held on bail in 49% of felony cases, cut deals to reduce 52% of the total number of felony cases to misdemeanors and went on to lose half of the felony prosecutions that headed to trial.
“Cashless bail is the single stupidest piece of legislation ever signed into existence. It allows career criminals the chance to offend again and again without any punishment and makes New Yorkers less safe,” Rockland County Republican Rep. Mike Lawler erupted in a statement.
“The SERVE Our Communities Act will encourage New York to fix its broken criminal justice laws and restore public safety. It’s a common-sense bill that pushes the state towards a common-sense solution.”
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Democratic-led state legislature in Albany passed a raft of like-minded reforms in 2019, barring cash bail for offenders accused of non-violent felonies, among other provisions, but never dealt with the dangerousness standard — despite initially including such language.
Judges who have had to apply an arcane “Bail Bench Book” in determining bond for perps have also had to undergo training sessions and use “cheat sheets” in court just to determine whether it gives them discretion to confine potentially threatening defendants — even after Gov. Kathy Hochul tweaked the 2019 law four years later.
“Since the Democrats’ radical 2019 Bail Law took effect, violent crime and recidivism rates have skyrocketed across New York City and State, putting public safety at risk,” Staten Island GOP Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, another co-sponsor of the bill, told The Post. “I’m proud to join my New York colleagues in introducing this bill to incentivize the hiring of law enforcement officers which we desperately need and repeal the soft-on-crime policies that have made our communities less safe.”
“The SERVE Our Communities Act takes critical steps to address the dangerous soft-on-crime policies imposed by Albany Democrats, including cashless bail and lenient pretrial release,” added Long Island Rep. Nick LaLota. “This is a common-sense bill that deserves bipartisan support because every lawmaker, regardless of party, should be doing more to empower law enforcement officers to protect our communities.”
The Hochul-backed legislative amendments in 2023 compel state courts, in part, to “Except as otherwise required by law, the court shall make an individualized determination as to whether the principal poses a risk of flight to avoid prosecution, consider the kind and degree of control or restriction necessary to reasonably assure the principal’s return to court, and select a securing order consistent with its determination.”
Big Apple Mayor Eric Adams has said Hochul’s changes, made as part of a state budget deal, didn’t go far enough — and former Police Benevolent Association president Pat Lynch has slammed them as “window dressing.”
On Monday, Adams slammed Cuomo for presiding over the bail reform while adding that he wasn’t blaming the city’s troubling recidivism rates on the new crime laws.
Hizzoner claimed, however, he’d been negotiating fixes with the legislature for years, without immediately clarifying what those were.
Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi pointed out that Adams “dismissed the bail reform debate as a ‘bumper sticker’ slogan” in 2023 “and endorsed Kathy Hochul’s bail reform package.”
“Bail reform has destroyed New York,” said Buffalo-area Rep. Nick Langworthy. “Our brave law enforcement officers and law-abiding New Yorkers feel the consequences while criminals roam free. As long as the far-left leaders in Albany fail to protect New Yorkers, it is our job in Congress to do so. I am proud to join my New York colleagues in Congress in introducing the SERVE Our Communities Act to bring safety back to our streets.”
“New Yorkers deserve to feel safe in their communities, but Albany’s disastrous bail reform policies have made that impossible,” added Nassau and Suffolk County Rep. Andrew Garbarino. “The SERVE Our Communities Act is a necessary step toward restoring accountability and ensuring repeat offenders no longer cycle in and out of the system unchecked. I’m proud to join Congresswoman Tenney and my New York colleagues in standing up for our law enforcement and prioritizing the safety of law-abiding citizens.”
