Free to prey

To the editor:

The fact that "Riverdale continues to be target for car vandals and thieves," (Feb. 6 Riverdale Press,) is because we have a mayor -- though an ex-cop whose campaign had law and order as a major issue -- who has not made increasing the police force a priority.

According to the Jan. 17 Police FAQs, the current number of uniformed officers is 36,000. But a chart in this same article shows that number at 33,000. A March 12, 2024 News12 article reported the 2023 level at 33,541, a 3.5 percent decrease from 10 years earlier. At the time, the starting salary was $50,000 a year, compared to $100,000 for state troopers. That salary has not increased much. It's now $58,000.

News12 quoted an NYPD statement that said they had hired 2,300 more officers in 2023. But News12 also reported that 2,900 officers left the force that year. They had 40,000 officers in 2000.

Some describe "broken windows" offenses as minor.  But when someone can't drive their car because the windows are broken and the tires and rims are gone, that's serious. Also, if we had more officers, the NYPD would be better able to target these criminals.

On Feb. 11, the Daily News wrote an article illustrating how a minor offense can escalate to murder. On Fowler Avenue in the Bronx, patrons of a nightclub have repeatedly double parked their cars, parked their cars in homeowners' driveways and at hydrants. Trevor Hughes, a 49-year-old homeowner and father of four, came home and couldn't park his car in because his driveway was blocked. Calls to 311 and 911 brought no response. When Hughes confronted the man and his girlfriend who came for the car, that man shot Hughes dead and his girlfriend badly beat up Hughes' fiancé. The gunman was reportedly drunk. So, when he drove the car away, he added drunken driving to his offenses.

If there were enough officers to handle what was considered a minor offense, then the major offense would have never happened. Also, he could have been arrested for gun possession. But it gets worse. Lavar Davis was arrested for this murder. He served time for another murder he committed when he was 17. Why is it so hard to understand that murderers or those who attempt to murder should spend the rest of their lives in prison without the chance of parole?

But New York State Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, Rowan Wilson thinks that too many criminals are incarcerated, according to an article in that same day's paper. Wilson's the same one who as an associate judge on the same court in 2023, voted as part of a 4-2 majority to free a convicted rapist on a legal technicality. They "reasoned" that because the time of his arrest was in 2009 and the trial wasn't until 2015, he was denied a speedy trial. So, a rapist gets released early because the justice system screwed up.

Getting back to the Bronx shooting death, like many other victims, this victim was Black. The cause of equal rights is not helped by Black criminals killing Black people. All good people are not helped by a justice system that is light on enforcement and punishment of criminals, whatever their color.

For example, President Joe Biden's justice department being slow to prosecute Donald Trump for the insurrection is a perfect example of the consequences of lax law enforcement.

Richard Warren