the key -
Despite overwhelming evidence that police, prosecution, and
incarceration are how cities keep citizens safe, New York’s clueless
progressive leaders continue to demand laws barring these tools,
advocating instead for magically curing crime’s “root causes.”

from
https://nypost.com/2024/03/28/opinion/new-york-lefties-take-aim-at-crimes-causes-without-realizing-theyre-the-problem/

New York lefties take aim at crime’s causes — without realizing they’re
the problem
By Social Links for Hannah E. Meyers
Published March 28, 2024, 10:20 p.m. ET

NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller was shot and killed during a routing
traffic stop in Queens this week.
William Miller
New York City was shaken Monday by the shooting death of NYPD Officer
Jonathan Diller, 31, during a car stop in Far Rockaway, Queens.

Diller reportedly sensed something was off about the Kia illegally
parked, blocking a bus stop, and approached.

After Diller repeatedly asked Guy Rivera, 34, to step out of the
passenger seat, Rivera allegedly shot the officer through the door,
fatally hitting him below his bulletproof vest.

Known as a selfless, already-decorated public servant, Diller lived on
Long Island with his young bride and 1-year-old son. His cold-blooded
murder resonated with New Yorkers’ growing personal fears of crime and
lawlessness.

Bad old days here again
In a recent Citizens Budget Commission poll, barely a third of New
Yorkers report happiness with their neighborhood’s safety.

Trump declares slain NYPD cop’s death must not be in vain after
attending wake: ‘Something has to come out of it’

Slain NYPD officer Jonathan Diller wake live updates: Hochul to attend
second day of services for slain NYPD cop

Less than half feel even somewhat secure riding the subway during the
day, down from over 80% across recent decades; at night, that figure
drops to 22%.

And no wonder: Monday’s 6 p.m. gunfire sent those at the nearby
Rockaway–Mott Avenue station scattering in terror.

The nightmare of such violence and of Officer Diller’s death should be
understood as a referendum on New York’s current elected leadership,
which takes every opportunity to undercut basic solutions to danger.

SEE ALSO

EDITORIAL
Rest in peace, Officer Jonathan Diller —and wake up, NY progressives

Despite overwhelming evidence that police, prosecution, and
incarceration are how cities keep citizens safe, New York’s clueless
progressive leaders continue to demand laws barring these tools,
advocating instead for magically curing crime’s “root causes.”

This hubristic approach was epitomized at last week’s City Council
hearings by New York City Public Advocate and gubernatorial hopeful
Jumaane Williams.

After helpfully invoking “peace and blessings,” Williams insisted that
crime is just a misperception, and that, since New York state enacted
bail reform in 2019, “recidivism rates are pretty similar and some
points have even gone down.”

Wrong on recidivism
Not true. As NYPD’s Crime Control Strategies Chief Michael Lipetri
corrected: “That’s not accurate. Recidivism is at its highest levels
[since] 2017.”

Officer Diller’s murderer could himself have refuted Williams’
outrageous claim. Rivera had 21 prior arrests, nine for felonies.

In 2021, he was released on parole after a half-decade in prison for
selling drugs; earlier, he served three years for assault.

When Diller approached him, Rivera already had a shiv stuffed up his
rectum in anticipation of cycling back to the slammer.

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The record of Rivera’s associate Lindy Jones, 41, who was in the
driver’s seat, also attests to recidivism being an accurate “perception.”

Jones had at least 14 arrests, including for robbery and assault, and
spent a decade in prison for attempted murder and robbery, getting out
in 2013.

He was most recently arrested last April, for walking around Far
Rockaway with an illegal loaded gun.

It’s suspected that, on Monday, Rivera and Jones were actively casing
nearby stores or passersby for fresh robberies at the time of the
shooting, making them part of a growing cohort of rapid re-offenders.

As Chief Lipetri noted, the percentage of robbery arrestees committing
another felony within 60 days leaped from 8% in 2017 to 25% by 2022.

SEE ALSO
NYPD lines up andf the Cirty Morgue in Manhattan to honor fellow office
Jonathan Diller, 31, who was shot dead during a traffic stop in Queens.
Twin horrors are another deadly blow to NYC — a city that already didn’t
feel safe to anyone
Williams objects to this comparison pre- and post-bail reform because,
he says, “Obviously if someone is in jail, they can’t recidivate.”

Uh . . . yes.

He went on to suggest that the NYPD “can skew numbers to make it seem
like if you’re just keeping someone in jail, you’re solving the problem.”

Uh . . . yes, again.

“We should look at the recidivism rate,” Williams allowed, but “there’s
another root cause. And if we keep looking at keeping people in jail,
the problem won’t be solved.”

The city’s public advocate, wearing a large “BE LOVE” lapel button, does
not want the city to implement solutions that prevent violence and
crime, such as incarcerating dangerous men.

He wants to reach into the cosmos and prevent Guy Rivera from being the
kind of guy who leaves his house in the morning with a shiv up his rear
and a gun in his waistband.

Broken windows
Divorced from reality, Williams also champions replacing cops with
“credible messengers” and other alternatives. But crime always seems to
go up after police deployments are “removed,” he complained last week.

Uh . . . yes, again!

Instead of reading this fact as evidence that police prevent crime,
Williams and city and state leadership ignore the failures of
de-policing; of bail, parole, and discovery reforms; and of gutting
enforcement for “low-level offenses” — like Monday’s idling in a bus stop.

How Post Readers Can Help
You can help Officer Jonathan Diller’s 1-year-old son via the Silver
Shield Foundation, which will help fund his future education. Diller,
31, was shot and killed during a traffic stop in Queens, leaving behind
his wife, Stephanie, and baby Ryan.

The Silver Shield Foundation was launched in 1982 by late New York
Yankees owner George Steinbrenner for the families of NYPD officers and
FDNY firefighters who lose their lives in the line of duty

You can make a contribution at silvershieldfoundation.org/donate or send
it to: Silver Shield Foundation, 870 UN Plaza, 1st Floor, New York, NY 10017

Instead, they self-righteously maintain their idiotic search for root
causes at the expense of actual public safety.

If New York’s leaders really want to find the root causes of our current
crime predicament, they should look in the mirror.

Here on planet Earth, a conscientious police officer remains the best
solution to disorder and danger. Brave men and women like Officer Diller
continue to do their job, despite a 20% rise in assaults on cops over
the past 14 months — including a 72% rise in officer stabbings.

40
What do you think? Post a comment.
Next time a suspicious car driven by armed felons is blocking a bus
stop, maybe Jumaane Williams can take it upon himself to go knock on the
window and check things out.

Failing that, he might try to show an ounce of the humility the rest of
us feel today about Jonathan Diller’s ultimate sacrifice.

From City Journal

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FILED UNDER CRIME CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORMS JONATHAN DILLER MURDERS
NYPD POLICE OFFICERS QUEENS 3/28/24
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