Law enforcement officials rallied Thursday across the Empire State in a fresh round of pleas to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Legislature to rethink the sweeping criminal justice reforms that take full effect Jan. 1. That followed Monday’s appeal from the state Conference of Mayors.
The response? Crickets.
The changes could put cities and towns under water fiscally, the mayors warn. They want a six-month pause before the new bail and discovery rules take effect.
Robert Kennedy, the Democratic mayor of Freeport and president of the conference, says his village of 43,000 will have to spend $2.2 million a year to comply with the new discovery rule. Police overtime, new computer hardware and software updates will boost his budget by 5.7% — which is limited by the 2% property-tax cap.
Unless Albany acts, prosecutors and police departments will be obligated to hand the defense all evidence (e.g., body-cam images, audio files and other materials) within 15 days of arraignment (long before charges are filed in an actual indictment).
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