The City of Newburgh has recently seen a large number of shootouts in the streets (most recent story here). One person was murdered on Wednesday and several people have been shot in recent weeks. In many instances, several gunmen have opened fire on each other and riddled the streets with dozens of bullets at a time. What can be done to stop all the shootings?
Police officers in the City of Newburgh certainly have their hands full. They likely have one of the hardest policing jobs in Orange County. Officers are constantly responding to shootings, stabbings, domestic violence, and other major incidents. In their spare time, they are visible in the community attending pop-up barbecues, outdoor movie events, and much more in an effort to improve the quality of life for residents.
The City Council has been working on reducing the gun violence. At the beginning of the summer, Councilman Anthony Grice introduced the idea of bringing in an anti-crime task force to help the City of Newburgh Police combat the violence. This was a smart idea that was acted upon and has come to fruition. Council members are also discussing bringing more programs into the City of Newburgh. Additionally, they worked with police to create a Mobile Police Unit at the corner of South and Chamber Streets, which is a high crime area. They have been pushing hard for positive relations between the police and community.
The same efforts hold true for many organizations in the City of Newburgh. There are many more positive functions for the community to engage in compared to previous decades. Volunteers at Habitat for Humanity have been hard at work demolishing old, run-down buildings and rebuilding them into hidden gems. Every week this summer, Safe Harbors has been gathering residents for outdoor movies on Broadway. Volunteers stand side-by-side with police and city leaders barbecuing free food for residents. Newburgh Free Academy students are volunteering their time to help the Newburgh Urban Farm and Food Initiative to give out fresh produce to residents. Outdoor water activities are being held throughout the city so families can enjoy themselves on hot days. The list goes on and on. All of this promotes a better environment to live in.
Unfortunately, no matter how occupied we keep the good people, violent people are still likely to commit crimes. This is not exclusive to the City of Newburgh. It happens everywhere across the globe, but is predominant within cities, especially in New York State. City streets from New York City to Buffalo are turning into scenes from the Wild West. The first ten minutes of the New York City nightly news outlines all of the shootings, stabbings, and some bizarre crimes that happen on a regular basis. It is a problem mostly beyond the control of municipal leaders. Everything that can be done at a local level is already being done by the City of Newburgh government.
The problem is there are little repercussions for those committing violent crimes in New York State – and the criminals know it. If a criminal is arrested for shooting up a City of Newburgh street but does not seriously injure anyone, he knows there is a good chance he will be back on the streets within a few days. This potentially allows him to return to the crime scene and try again.
In the meantime, the only ones suffering are the law-abiding citizens. The system is further victimizing the victims who get absolutely no closure or protection from these dangerous criminals. Those who are trying to raise their children and do the right thing in society are constantly plagued by the very problems they are trying to avoid.
Several policies were put into place over the last few years that contributed to the rise in crime. Thousands of violent criminals were released from prison and put back on the streets to accommodate massive prison closures. The bail reform plans further endangered our communities. At the time of the reform, bail issues certainly needed to be addressed. A suspect should not be locked up without bail due to minor crimes. However, the reform took it to the completely opposite extreme. The statewide policies incentivized crime while opponents swiftly warned that violent crimes would sharply rise. Indeed they have.
Shortly after ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo resigned, both sides of the political aisle began taking steps to adjust the bail reform problems, but much more work still needs to be done.
The bail reform policies are only one part of a much larger problem. The entire criminal justice system needs an overhaul.
The sex offender registry (see it on The Newburgh News here) shows some despicable crimes in every municipality. As repeatedly shown throughout the registry, child molesters who are convicted of sexually abusing or raping very young children sometimes get probation without ever going to prison. Oftentimes, they are handed a prison sentence for only a few years. This is outrageous.
We are not calling for mass incarceration. However, violent criminals cannot continue turning the streets into shooting galleries. A mother should be able to bring her children outside to play without the fear of them being shot or molested.
In order to reduce the violent crimes, the entire system must be changed. Dangerous criminals need to be taken off the streets and hit with tougher sentences while walking a fine line so as not to cause the mass incarceration of petty criminals.
