Mayor Adams Says Crime Will Not Decrease until NY Changes Bail Laws

By Yehudit Garmaise

 

“Why are we protecting people who are committing crimes and violence?” Mayor Adams asked at a 12:50 am press conference at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx.

 

NYPD Officer Dennis Vargas received treatment at Lincoln Hospital after he was shot by Rameek Smith, 25, who has been on the streets since he was released two years ago despite the gun charges against him.

In March 2020, Perpetrator Rameek Smith, who lives in a Staten Island homeless shelter, was stopped for fare evasion at a Coney Island subway station, where he was found to possess a gun.

In December 2021, Smith pled guilty to the gun possession charges, but he was released until his sentencing, which has been twice-delayed and scheduled to take place this June.

In 2016, Smith was convicted of robbery and given five years probation, the New York Post reported.

Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell also called Smith “a dangerous criminal who should not have been on the streets of the Bronx or anywhere else.”

Adams said Smith’s case was a prime example of why New York’s bail reform law needs to be changed as soon as possible to reduce crime.

“We took 2,600 guns off our streets,” fumed Mayor Adams, who has often said that NYPD officers are doing their part to decrease crime, but bail reform laws undermine the cops’ efforts. “The shooters of those guns are back on the streets just like this person is.”

“[Smith] made up his mind that he was not going to stop until he took the life of an innocent person,” Mayor Adams said.

“Under normal circumstances you would see a decrease in crime in the city, but the same criminals are continuing to come out in our streets committing violence over and over again,” Adams lamented. “The city deserves better.”