Bragg has announced that he will not seek jail time for a variety of offenses, following a path of other progressive prosecutors in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Philadelphia, among others.
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Bragg’s office will also largely no longer prosecute some trespass offenses, the charge of resisting arrest, subway and bus fare beating and sex work. He is also reducing charges for stealing from stores or from home storage areas, and drug dealing.
Bragg says it is time for a fresh, new approach to the country’s criminal justice system that is failing the most vulnerable. He says the system needs to focus on mental health and substance abuse, which he notes are often the causes of repeat offenders.
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Police unions and crime victims’ advocates have blasted the new policies, accusing Bragg of adopting policies that will only encourage criminality.
“There are already too many people who believe that they can commit crimes, resist arrest, interfere with police officers and face zero consequences,” says Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch.
“Bragg gives criminals the roadmap to freedom from prosecution and control of our streets,” says the head of the NYPD Detectives’ Endowment Association, Paul DiGiacomo. “In Bragg’s Manhattan, you can resist arrest, deal drugs, obstruct arrests, and even carry a gun and get away with it.”
“He’s paving the way for an even bigger bloodbath than what we have seen in New York City already,” says Jennifer Harrison, head of the crime victims advocacy group, Victims Rights New York.