In her “Rollins Memo” released last month, radical far left Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins announced new orders for police to stop arresting people for crimes ranging from shoplifting, breaking and entering, vandalism, and resisting arrest.
As incredible as it sounds, local law enforcement is now being directed by their district attorney to stand idly by while criminals steal and destroy property and fight police should they not wish to be arrested.
Breaking into and squatting in an unoccupied building will not be prosecuted if Rollins gets elected in November. Resisting arrest, no problem. Dealing drugs, who cares? Ditto shoplifting and a list of other charges Rollins apparently views as more of a nuisance to the perpetrator than the crimes are to the public.
“If everybody knows they’re going to get a pass, decorum will go out the window,” fumed one long-serving former cop. “These are basic, quality-of-life issues. It’s the absolute antithesis of broken windows.”
The “broken windows” theory maintains that cracking down on minor offenses prevents more serious crimes. Under Rollins’ proposal, criminals will waste no time taking advantage of the almost nonexistent punishments for destroying property or stealing from local stores, say critics.
“A good portion of the criminal class will feel emboldened,” said Rafael Mangual, a criminal justice expert at the right-leaning Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. “Criminals are going to respond to incentives. They’ll do more of something if they won’t get in trouble for it.”
“An order without a consequence is just a helpful hint, and you need more than helpful hints to prevent these offenses,” said Mark Kleiman, director of the Crime Reduction & Justice Initiative at New York University’s Marron Institute, after reviewing Rollins’ proposal to stop prosecuting crimes like malicious destruction of property, larceny under $250 and shoplifting.
Rollins’ plan comes amid growing criticism that “broken windows” policing bogs down the court system and encourages aggressive law enforcement crackdowns in minority communities.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. stopped prosecuting minor offenses in 2016. Police officers there now issue summonses for possession of marijuana, drinking or urinating in public or jumping subway turnstiles, a move Vance argued would free prosecutors and court officials to focus on more serious crimes.
Rollins has added a whole new batch of crimes that she refuses to prosecute, however, and critics argue the move ignores the real-life consequences for Boston’s businesses and residents.
“If somebody steals my cellphone, it seems to me there ought to be a sanction for that. Otherwise they’ll just do it again,” said Kleiman. Directing offenders to complete community service or pay restitution has its own issues, he added.
“What if they simply can’t pay? What if they refuse to do community service?” said Kleiman.
Another wrinkle is that the job-training or schooling Rollins suggested instead of prosecution either doesn’t exist or would need a huge infusion of funding.
“It’s a recipe for a public safety disaster,” said Mangual. “It strikes me as troubling and I think it should trouble the whole city.”
How has this been panning out so far?
Prosecutors have seen an increase in the number of people charged with assaulting police since Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins included resisting arrest among the 15 “non-violent” offenses that her office now looks to dismiss unless a supervisor’s permission is obtained.
“One of the 15 is resisting arrest, so we’ve seen an uptick in assault and battery on a police officer,” Donna Patalano, general counsel for the DA’s office, said Wednesday at a Boston College Law School panel discussion on the charging decisions. “We need to figure out why.”
When you allow people to resist arrest, you wind up with more assaults on police. Gee, go figure!
Rollins is linked to the Soros-funded political PAC, Real Justice, which seeks to completely take over the criminal justice system. A Soros tentacle. Surprise!
“We are one of the most progressive counties in the country and we have one of the most regressive justice systems,” Price said. “Soros isn’t the real story. The real story is the police money that came in from across the state to stop us. The real story is who owns our criminal justice system. Mr. Soros doesn’t own the system, they do.”
King was also floored by the defeats. “Moderates and whites will band together to oppose (President Donald) Trump, or elect a mayor. But when it comes to criminal justice system, in some places, they vote like conservatives,” he said.
Of course, Rollins extends her radical ‘no arrest’ policy to illegal immigrants…and then some!
Move to the final page for details and a Tucker Carlson interview with Rollins.
Don’t arrest them. Just bury them .
Let me guess – she’s a democrat and ignore everything is her mantra. Sounds like a perfect vice presidential candidate for Bernie or Elizabeth or Joe!
Why are citizens allowing this to happen?
Has NO ONE learned from San Francisco? Well, I guess y’all are gonna look to Venezuela, because that is exactly what you Dems wanted and that’s what you’re gonna get
The district attorney has NO authority to tell law enforcement not to enforce laws. The district attorney can choose not to prosecute but is guilty of abuse of authority when she attempts to make an end run around the law. She should be prosocuted herself and removed from office
She needs to be fired if she thinks what she is doing is legal. She can’t rewrite the laws she was hired to uphold.