DA Bragg clarifi es ‘confusion’ on crime policies
BY MORGAN C. MULLINGS
Manhattan District Attorney
Alvin Bragg on
Feb. 4 walked back the
memo he released last month
to his offi ce staff at the beginning
of his term; particularly
his policy that lowered the
severity of armed robbery.
Bragg faced criticism from
not only the public, but many
politicians, and was regarded
by the New York Post, who fi rst
published the Jan. 3 memo, as
“soft on crime.”
The memo he released Feb.
4 returns some charges to their
original severity. All of this is
occurring at the same time
as Mayor Eric Adams aims to
bring in more police, stronger
sentences, and sentences for
offenders under the age of 18,
in order to combat the city’s
gun violence crisis.
“As I emphasized in my remarks
to the offi ce, you were
hired for your keen judgement,
and I want you to use that
judgement,” he said in his new
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg
memo. “The January 3rd memorandum
was intended to provide
POLITICS
ADAs Assistant District
Attorneys with a framework
for how to approach cases in
the best interest of safety and
PHOTO BY KEVIN DUGGAN
justice. Our collective experience,
however, has been that
the Memorandum has been
a source of confusion, rather
than clarity.”
The confusion, however, is
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not that ADAs did not know
what to charge armed robbers,
but that he encouraged them
not to armed robbers with felonies.
That doesn’t bode well in
the Adams administration.
In the new memorandum,
Bragg writes that there are three
things from his initial meeting
with staff that he wants to
now memorialize, to seemingly
squash the debate.
The famous Jan. 3 memorandum
did not create any “rights,
substantive or procedural, in favor
of any person, organization
or party.” And it doesn’t limit
the lawful prosecutorial process
that his ADAs will carry out.
Commercial robbery with a gun
or a knife is a felony. If there
are situations without a threat
of physical harm, his offi ce will
assess the charges. The default
in gun cases is felony prosecution.
“Gun possession cases are
a key part of our plan for public
safety,” Bragg wrote. This
means assisting the state and local
charge of tracing the sources
of illegal guns, also called
the ‘iron pipeline.’ Violence
against police offi cers will not
be tolerated.”
These admissions will hardly
provide reason for critics to
walk back their own assessments
of his policy. The memo
instructed prosecutors to steer
away from jail time for crimes
like robberies, assaults and gun
possession, which won him
support from many progressives.
It focuses more on jail
time for very serious crimes at
time where New York City’s
jails are proven unsafe and being
investigated by the press for
inhumane practices.
At the time of the fi rst memo’s
release, Police Commissioner
Keechant Sewell said in
an email that she was “very concerned
about the implications to
your safety as police offi cers, the
safety of the public and justice
for the victims.”
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12 February 10, 2022 Schneps Media