Suffern PD chief: New criminal justice reforms ‘dangerous to the public’

Suffern Police Chief Clark Osborn told News 12 that new statewide criminal justice reforms that go into effect next year are “going to be very dangerous to the public.”

News 12 Staff

Nov 1, 2019, 9:21 PM

Updated 1,808 days ago

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Suffern Police Chief Clark Osborn told News 12 that new statewide criminal justice reforms that go into effect next year are “going to be very dangerous to the public.”
Among them is the state’s new bail reform, which will allow most non-violent suspects to walk free within 12 hours of being arraigned.
“You can go deal heroin or cocaine on school property and you get to be released in 12 hours,” says Osborn.
State Sen. Jamaal Bailey, who co-sponsored the bail reform, says the new law doesn't put anyone at risk. Instead, he says, it stops non-violent suspects from being jailed simply because they can't afford bail.
“Your freedom should not be predicated on the amount of money you have or don't have,” says Bailey.
Osborn, who's on a countywide committee to help implement the mandates, says the reforms will also force judges to release some prisoners.
“These criminals are going to be back out, victimizing people over and over again. It's going to affect everybody,” he told News 12.
New City-based defense attorney Jonathan Ripps disagrees.
“I think it will even out the playing field between people who have the resources and people who don't have resources,” says Ripps.
But the only resources Osborn sees the reforms affecting are taxpayers' pockets.
“There are towns in Rockland County that have increased their overtime by $1 million, just for this mandate alone. And it's an unfunded mandate. So local taxpayers from Clarkstown, Suffern, Stony Point are going to fund this,” he says.
The new criminal justice reforms will go into effect Jan. 1.