New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio is just flabbergasted that criminals, upon being released on prison early to keep them from getting sick, might go on to – and hold your breath here – commit even more crimes.
Following a New York Post report detailing how some criminals released from NYC prisons over COVID-19 concerns have since continued to break the law amid the city’s coronavirus shutdown, De Blasio said it was “unconscionable” that the former inmates would commit more crimes.
“I think it’s unconscionable just on a human level that folks were shown mercy and this is what some of them have done,” De Blasio said during a Monday morning press briefing.
“We do see some recidivism. I have not seen a huge amount, but any amount is obviously troubling,” he said, saying the city was “buckling down” on criminals who’re reoffending during the crisis.
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The New York Post had previously reported that of the 1,500 or so criminals released from New York prisons to help stop the spread of the coronavirus in overcrowded detention facilities, 50 had already landed back in jail, including “a Rikers Island inmate initially jailed for allegedly setting his girlfriend’s door on fire and choking her mother, who was released early only to return to the Bronx apartment and allegedly threaten to kill the whole family,” per the Post.
The article adds:
Another prisoner who is accused of assaulting a Department of Homeless services officer and was later set free was arrested for punching an agency sergeant just two days after his release, records show.
Yet another, who was serving a 60-day sentence for theft, was charged with burglarizing Queens’ Singh Farm grocery store to the tune of more than $9,000 three weeks after his early release.
New York isn't the only place struggling with newly released criminals now committing crimes after being freed thanks to COVID-19. In one extreme case, Florida authorities say a man released from prison after being convicted of a slew of drug charges is now back in jail after being arrested and charged with shooting a man to death just one day after he was set free.