Editorial
Op-ed
Rewarding economics
For years, an anonymous tipster to
the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline
could get $2,500 for providing
information that leads to the arrest of a
suspected shooter, or any other criminal.
That reward was bumped up on Monday
by a full grand, to $3,500, in an announcement
that Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYPD
Chief of Department Rodney Harrison
touted at a City Hall briefi ng.
The hope is that the higher reward will
serve as an incentive for New Yorkers to
drop a dime on gun criminals responsible for
the spike in crime, and particularly shootings,
in recent months across the city. For
two straight months, the NYPD reported
double-digit increases in felonies year-overyear
in April and May, and shootings have
skyrocketed every month since last summer.
But will an extra grand really prove to be
that much of an incentive to overcome the
fear many crime witnesses have of reporting
incidents to police?
Certainly, a higher reward will solve a
few more crimes that might otherwise go
unsolved. But if the city and the NYPD want
to incentivize the fi ght against crime among
the public, then it must step up in the same
way that it has to convince New Yorkers to
get vaccinated against COVID-19.
We can start with more gun buyback
programs, which have worked successfully
in taking thousands of guns off the streets
of New York City over the years. These buybacks
should become monthly fi xtures in
communities across the fi ve boroughs hardest
hit by gun violence — with increased
cash payments provided to those who surrender
their weapons, no questions asked.
Offer $2,500 per handgun and $4,000
per assault weapon. The city should also pay
people to turn in their ammunition as well
— $10-20 per bullet should do the trick.
Fund the buybacks through the NYPD and
its Crime Stoppers program.
As for providing tips, the reward system
should be rescaled to fi t the seriousness of
a crime. The $3,500 minimum should be
offered toward lesser offenses like assault,
but it should climb to $50,000 for murder
and other heinous crimes.
Rewards and buybacks won’t ever be
confused with “get rich quick” schemes,
nor should they be. But if modernized to
meet the modern economy, they can serve
as legitimate incentives designed to help
New Yorkers protect each other and turn
the tide against violent crime.
Publisher of The Villager, Villager Express, Chelsea Now,
Downtown Express and Manhattan Express
PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER
CEO & CO-PUBLISHER
EDITOR IN CHIEF
REPORTERS
CONTRIBUTORS
ART DIRECTOR
ADVERTISING
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES
PUBLISHER’S LIABILITY FOR ERROR
The Publisher shall not be liable for slight changes
or typographical errors that do not lessen the value
of an advertisement. The publisher’s liability for
others errors or omissions in connection with an
advertisement is strictly limited to publication of the
advertisement in any subsequent issue.
Published by Schneps Media
One Metrotech North, 3rd floor
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Phone: (718) 260-2500
Fax: (212) 229-2790
On-line: www.thevillager.com
E-mail: news@thevillager.com
© 2021 Schneps Media
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA SCHNEPS
ROBERT POZARYCKI
EMILY DAVENPORT
KEVIN DUGGAN
DEAN MOSES
ALEJANDRA O’CONNELLDOMENECH
BOB KRASNER
TEQUILA MINSKY
MARCOS RAMOS
CLIFFORD LUSTER
(718) 260-2504
CLUSTER@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
GAYLE GREENBURG
JULIO TUMBACO
ELIZABETH POLLY
New York Press Association
Member of the National
Newspaper Association
Member of the
Member of the
Minority Women Business Enterprise
The NYS elder parole
bill didn’t pass for good
reason; all crime is not
created equal
BY LAURA A. AHEARN
The proposed Elder Parole Bill before
the New York State Legislature
failed to pass for good reason, it
treats every incarcerated person the same,
regardless of the crime they committed.
If passed, the Elder Parole legislation
would give a green light to all incarcerated
people aged 55 and older to go
before the NYS Parole Board for release
consideration, regardless of their crime, as
long as they have served 15 years of their
sentence – even if they have not served their
minimum sentence.
Crimes are differentiated in the Penal
Code for good reason. As the severity and
societal impact of the crime increases, so
too does the crime degree and subsequent
potential sentence when convicted of a
crime. There is a stark difference between
an opioid addicted offender in need of
treatment who commits a non-violent
property crime to feed an addiction, and a
sexual predator who abducts, rapes, murders,
and dismembers a child, or someone
who executes a police or other law enforcement
offi cer, or violent gang members who
hunt down teenaged girls and hack them
to death with machetes, as occurred here
in Suffolk County. These offenders cannot
and should never be treated the same for
purposes of possible release.
Advocates in support of the Elder Parole
Bill argue that every offender should be
treated the same, and that if passed, the
law would not allow for offenders to be
PHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES
released, but would instead give them an
opportunity to plead their case before the
Parole Board. If that were to happen, then
victims, surviving parents and families of
those who were victimized would have to
argue their case every two years before
the Parole Board as well – in fact, maybe
decades before they would have had to,
depending upon the original sentence
that offender received. The proposed law
would in essence be clawing back on the
original sentence and granting those violent
offenders who committed horrifi c crimes
eligibility for parole hearings every two
years – requiring victims, surviving family
members, and in some cases, entire communities
to relive horrifi c traumas in ongoing
fi ghts to continue to keep violent predators
behind bars, when in fact they should have
never been eligible for that Parole hearing in
the fi rst place, but for this new law.
Let’s not forget that victims have rights
too, as do the families that suffer for
generations after a heinous victimization
occurs. According to Cornell Law, criminal
justice is a term that refers to the laws,
procedures, institutions, and policies that
come together before, during, and after the
commission of a crime. Changes to any part
of the criminal justice system must not
ignore or dismiss the impact that any such
change will have on a victim, their surviving
family members, and the communities
that support them.
Laura A. Ahearn, Esq., LMSW is the Executive
Director of The Crime Victims Center,
Inc. and a Private Practice Attorney.
8 June 24, 2021 Schneps Media
/www.thevillager.com
link
link
/www.thevillager.com
link
link
