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Lawmakers: NYPD commissioner’s bail reform figures create ‘false narrative’

A letter by two city councilmen alleges Shea’s claims about major crimes increasing as a result of bail reform isn’t backed up by statistics

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Kyle Lawson
Staten Island Advance

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — City lawmakers claim NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea is misleading the public with “false narratives” about new, statewide criminal justice reform laws, according to a New York Post report.

A letter to Shea penned by Councilmen Donovan Richards (D-Queens) and Rory Lancman (D-Queens) calls on Shea to either back up his claims about most major crimes increasing as a result of bail reform with statistics, or walk back the statement, the report said.

The letter states that while CompStat figures — which the city uses to track crime data — show 1,222 more major crimes in January 2020 compared to January 2019, the NYPD has only linked 84 of the incidents to individuals released without bail that month.

At a press conference Tuesday, Shea doubled down on claims he made in January that “If you let out individuals that commit a lot of crime, that’s precision policing in reverse.”

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