It is no secret that New York is facing major problems with crime these days. Like many other Democrat-led communities across the United States, in New York, there have been viral videos and news reports of carjackings, unprovoked attacks happening at random, and more.
When Gov. Kathy Hochul was up for reelection last year, she took a very nonchalant attitude toward crime in her state. The closest Hochul came to addressing New York’s crime crisis was to make mention of her view that more gun control is needed.
However, this failed to address the criminality in New York that takes place without the use of a firearm. Though as the deeply blue state struggles with lawlessness, it’s now taking heat over a new law passed years ago, called Raise the Age, as reported by New York Post.
A Comprehensive Breakdown of Raise the Age
In a nutshell, Raise the Age was passed in New York for the purpose of altering how the criminal justice system handles offenders who are young in age, namely those 14 to 17/18.
New York Democrats, back in 2017, said Raise the Age would stop young people and people of color from being unfairly treated by the criminal justice system. However, as critics at the time warned, Raise the Age backfired tremendously.
Due to Raise the Age going on the books, younger offenders who break the law are now able to be kept out of criminal courts, due to their age. Supporters of Raise the Age insisted this was a just law due to a lack of total brain development in younger people.
So far as I can tell, the New York Times has given zero coverage to the Upper West Side rape incident.
— Crime in NYC (@CrimeInNYC) March 6, 2023
However, New York did not take into account how treating younger offenders who commit serious crimes with kid gloves would impact the community at large.
The chickens have since come home to roost, as Dandre Johnson, 21, lost his life in 2021 after being shot by Tyree Malone, 17. Before Malone’s arrest and charge for the murder of Johnson, the then-teenager had been apprehended at least three times within a 12-month period, due to illegal gun possession.
If it weren’t for Raise the Age, Malone may have been stopped and fully held accountable before he took Johnson’s life nearly two years ago.
Soft-on-Crime Laws
Both within and outside the confines of New York, soft-on-crime laws have been tried on multiple occasions. Each time, they fail to meet their intended objectives; however, there is always a rise in lawlessness, as offenders have an easier time flying under the radar or evading accountability.
Two people have been arrested for a hate crime assault in Queens. They allegedly yelled slurs at an Asian-American woman and her son before attacking them. @AielloTV spoke with one of the victims on Monday.https://t.co/Pnm9OicxAq
— CBS New York (@CBSNewYork) March 7, 2023
It is now up to New York to decide if it wants to keep going down the path of rising lawlessness and failure to hold criminals responsible.
Do you believe crime in New York is going to get better or worse with time? Use the comments area below as your sounding board.
