Crime reduction & safe streets program in New York by Sean Hayes, candidate, NYC Council District 1

New York crime wave by Sean Hayes? Auto thefts, which have been on the upswing for months, continues to remain a problem, with 666 stolen vehicles reported in March 2021. That’s a 35.% jump from the 493 incidents recorded at the same time a year ago. Just two of the seven major crime categories decreased in March 2021: robberies, which were down 11.8% year-over-year; and burglaries, which dropped 8.5%. Meanwhile, crime in the city’s transit system was also down 32.6% year-over-year, with 118 incidents reported — a decrease from the 175 tallied in March 2020. The 99 shootings in March 2021 also represented a significant uptick in gun violence compared to February 2021, when 77 shootings were recorded. There were also 77 shootings during January of this year.

NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea has continued to insist that criminal justice reforms, including the state’s 2019 bail reform laws that went into effect last year, are driving the increase in violent crime, despite evidence to the contrary. The reforms prohibited judges from setting bail in most cases, except those charged with violent felonies. “We have one simple ask,” Shea told an interviewer last week, after a Brownsville man killed his girlfriend and two of her children before turning the gun on himself. “We need to give judges discretion to keep dangerous people in jail.” But New York’s wave of gun violence is coming at a pivotal moment in the city’s history. In June, Democratic primary voters will likely choose the next mayor. That same month, the city’s budget will be due, setting up another massive public battle over whether to redirect money from the NYPD to the city’s poorer communities, predominately Black and Latino, who are disproportionately affected by gun violence.

We are in a major crime wave. Is this a sign of a movement back towards the Dark Days of the 80s and early 90s? The stats are telling. The following post considers the crime statistics, cause of the crime wave, dispels the myth of the increase in crime is caused by the pandemic and proposes simple, balanced and common-sense solutions. Starting on January 1, 2020 New York State supported by the New York City Council and Mayor de Blasio implemented Bail and Discovery reform. This Bail and Discovery Reform legislation led to an increase in the number of suspects out on bail and an expedited discovery process that is leading to the dropping of cases against suspects. See more details at Crime wave in New York 2021.

Detractors are Wrong, the Pandemic Did not Lead to the Increase in Crime: The argument that the pandemic caused the increase in crime is tragically flawed if we consider the matter logically and via statistics. The detractors note that poor economic conditions and a shift in routine activities led to the 2020 Crime Wave. The arguments are tragically flawed and are being used as a mere red herring by these detractors.

Sean Hayes a 47-year old NY Attorney; Head of an International Law Firm; former lawyer working in China, Korea & Southeast Asia; former Professor, CEO, Dean of a UN University and Journalist fears that our City shall turn to the Dark Days of the 80s and early 90s, because of reactionary and radicalized politics in New York and the lack of experience, pragmatism, and problem-solving skills of our politicians. Sean is running in the Democratic Primary for City Council in District 1. Sean believes that we need politicians with the intelligence, experience, emotional maturity and dedication to develop plans to solve the issues facing New York City. These politicians, in many case, are looking for a fast-track to fame, fortune and a higher political office with little care for the needs of the communities they serve, thus, leading to a decreasing tax base, deterioration of public housing, decrease in the quality and efficiency of services, low morale in our government servants, lack of accountability in government, less affordable housing, increase in crime, higher taxes, decrease in the quality of life and increased fraud waste and abuse. See extra information on https://www.seanhayes4nyc.com/.