By Louis Civello
Current events have proven that anti-police rhetoric and overzealous reactions resulting in shortsighted policies have put New Yorkers in danger. “Defund the police” became a rallying cry among activists to apply pressure on elected representatives and demand systemic criminal justice “reforms”. Soft-on-crime bail laws, the repeal of 50a, staffing reductions, and pension reforms have all made policing a less desirable profession for new generations of people entering the workforce.
Leaders of the law enforcement profession warned politicians of the long-term negative effects that improper funding and anti-police rhetoric would have on public safety, and we continue to advise those currently in power to defend the police and provide us with the tools we need to keep our neighborhoods safe.
New Yorkers just witnessed another tragic event that displays the dangers of soft-on-crime criminal justice policies. NYPD Police Officer Johnathan Diller was murdered during a traffic stop, leaving behind a wife and a young son.
A career criminal with at least twenty-one prior arrests was armed with a firearm and shot the police officer. A second occupant of the vehicle, another career criminal with at least fourteen prior arrests, was also armed with a firearm. The accused cop killer was so prone to violence that he had a cutting instrument hidden inside a bodily orifice at the time of the shooting.
The fact that these two men could have so many arrests and still be roaming our streets is another example of how light penalties are non-deterrents to living a life of crime. We need our elected representatives in Albany to address recidivism by amending bail reform to allow for full judicial discretion on all criminal charges.
Many thousands of people gathered to mourn Officer Diller, including former President of the United States Donald Trump (R-FL). The Suffolk PBA sent our canteen truck to all services. We were honored to serve food to our brother and sister officers who stood in the rain, waiting in long lines to pay respect to this hero.
Officer Diller’s widow gave a passionate eulogy at his funeral saying the same thing that is on all our minds. How many more need to die before we start protecting our police officers?
A few weeks ago, four defendants were released without bail after being charged with concealment of a human corpse after dismembered body parts were found in a Suffolk County park by a child walking to school.
Governor Hochul (D) went on to criticize the work of the Suffolk County Police Department, blaming the release of the suspects on the detectives working the case and the District Attorney for not bringing additional charges. This of course was false. The Suffolk County Police Department and Suffolk County District Attorney Tierney (R) did an outstanding job, making arrests mere days after the body parts were discovered. The Governor ignored the real issue of bail reform and how the flawed policy is failing New Yorkers.
I released a statement responding to the Governor’s comments disputing her claims and labeling them ignorant. Afterwards, I had the opportunity to meet with her to discuss bail reform and other issues that are important to public safety. We opened a dialogue, and I was able to speak candidly regarding the critical challenges faced by law enforcement. This included officer mental health. Tragically, we have lost four Suffolk law enforcement officers to suicide. I’m thankful for the $13 million the Governor has proposed for mental health in this year’s budget. It’s a good start but not nearly enough to make real change statewide.
Likewise, adding dismembering corpses to the list of bail eligible offenses makes sense but won’t solve our public safety crisis. We need to stop affixing band-aids to this law and simply let judges do their jobs so that dangerous criminals will be kept off our streets. I’m hopeful that what we discussed will not fall on deaf ears and that the Governor and legislature will work to address these issues soon. We owe it to Officer Diller and his family to finally fix bail reform once and for all.
We can either defend our police or continue to stand at police funerals for deaths that were preventable. The choice should be an easy one.
Louis Civello is the President of the Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association.
