BEHIND THE PAPER WITH ERIC GRANOF
This past week, the AIA Surety team attended the Professional Bail Agents of the United States (PBUS) Conference in Las Vegas. The conference took place at the Luxor hotel and casino and despite the 10,000 Keller Williams realtors that seemed to clog up every hallway, restaurant and elevator, the conference seemed to go off without a hitch. The conference was well attended and included several interesting speakers and topics, including a discussion on electronic bonding.
Over the past several weeks, the news media has been pushing out stories touting the success of bail reform efforts. In Los Angeles, they adopted a new ZERO bail policy, and now release most defendants with no bail. They claim that in only 3 short months, the new policy is working great.
( https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-03-01/editorial-bad-news-for-reform-opponents-courts-no-bail-program-is-working-well?fbclid=IwAR3uZ2HJcSVFsViUYkxbhaevdKjPw8HdVbxSG04Ve3n3Ne29F89mb64KW2Y).
In Illinois, they removed the use of financially secured release (cash bail) completely. And just like Los Angeles, they are out in the media telling everyone how wonderful everything is working. They say Bail Reform has reduced the jail population and reduced crime…and they have the research that shows it.
So here is the research that tells them bail reform is working. The jail population in Illinois is down 12%. And the amount of people being accused of non-violent crimes has reduced 21%. That’s it. That is success. Letting a bunch more arrestees out of jail, and less people reporting non-violent crimes. I’m sorry but these are not success metrics. If you want to have less people in jail…just open up the door…I am sure that will be faster and cheaper than the current taxpayer funded jailbreak Illinois citizens are funding. We seemed to forget the purpose of jails. Jails are designed to hold people accused of committing crimes. If they are full, it is not because the bail system is unfair. It is for one reason and one reason only…because people are committing more crimes.
The solution to too much crime can’t simply be empty the jails or decriminalize existing crimes so they are no longer tracked. That type of solution is a mirage. It is a manipulation of numbers that doesn’t solve anything, but rather allows our elected officials to make outrageous and disingenuous claims, like crime is down and we are safer. But we all know the reality of what is happening on our streets, and we aren’t safer… but at least the jails are less full.
At the end of the day, do we really need to see their manufactured research anyway? I don’t know about you, but I always find the best approach to judging things is relying on common sense. I don’t stick my hand in a fire because I know it would hurt. You can tell me all day long that you have a research study saying that it won’t hurt, but I am going to rely on my common sense. Bail reform is just like the fire example. You can tell me all day long that it is working, but I am going to rely on my common sense. If you release an accused criminal from jail on simply their pinky promise to stay out of trouble and show up to court, and then tell me that I am now going to be safer, I am going to have to disagree. Why? Because it defies common sense. People who are accused of committing crimes, are not just going to stop committing crimes because you were “more fair” to them. Instead, they are going to take advantage of you and that is exactly what is happening. People who are being released from jail for free are taking advantage of these soft on crime policies and instead of acting on their best behavior like the pinky promise they swore, they are going out and committing more crimes. In New York, where bail reform has been a complete failure, 66% of the people released are committing a new crime. But don’t worry, at least the jails are less full.
The problem with bail reform policies is that they completely ignore the fact that a large majority of people who break the law are not good people. They do not have the moral compass that most law abiding citizens do. They are people that need to be held accountable. If you remove the chance of punishment, they will take advantage of the system. That is what is happening in New York with 66% of the people reoffending. That is what is happening in Houston, Texas, where over 80% of defendants who are released on a FREE release are not returning to court. That is what is happening in California, where 78% of the people released on ZERO bail reoffend and where people released on ZERO bail are committing violent crimes 200% more often. But don’t worry, at least the jails are less full.
The time has come for everyone, not just bail agents, to start challenging our legislators and these dishonest bail reform activists. We need to start calling them and their policies out for their empty promises and ultimate failures. When large retailers start closing stores and pulling out of communities, we are not safer. When we defund police departments and decriminalize felonies, we are not safer. When we remove all accountability from the pretrial release system, we are not safer. And when we applaud the fact that our jails have less people in them, we are definitely not safer. We need fewer nonsensical bail reform policies and more common sense across the board. Only then can we begin to have an honest debate on how to best hold criminals accountable and how to best keep our families safe.
Eric Granof is the Vice President of Corporate Communications for AIA Surety.