ALBANY, N.Y. (WENY) – New York State Assemblyman Phil Palmesano joined Republican colleagues in the rollout of the “Restore Order Anti-Crime Initiative”.

Republicans in the State Assembly are introducing a plan they say will help combat the recent rise in violent crime across the state.

Major cities, like New York City, Albany, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo have all seen a rise in crime in the first four months of 2021. New York City has seen a 17% increase in murders and an 83% increase in shootings compared to 2020. Meanwhile, homicides are up 50% in Syracuse and 100% in Rochester. In Albany, rapes, aggravated assaults and robberies have each reportedly seen a 15% increase.

Republicans say the state bail and discovery laws enacted in 2019 are to blame of the increase in crime, arguing the laws allowed criminals to reoffend after being released when previously, they would have been held in jail on bail. Republicans also say such policies were enacted without “engaging in important stakeholders like our law enforcement, district attorneys, crime victims and their families”.

“Alarmingly, the state parole board continues to irresponsibly release dangerous individuals from prison and back into our communities, including murderers and rapists. The Majorities continue to advocate for reckless parole reform bills while criminals are being released daily. They are now advocating for ‘elder parole,’ which would allow automatic parole hearings if an individual served 15 years of their sentence and reached age 55, regardless of the crime and sentence they received,” said Palmesano.

“This administration, alongside the Assembly and Senate Majorities, has continued to advance legislation and policies that put the interests of dangerous criminals, including murderers and rapists, ahead of the interests of crime victims, their families and the safety of the public. This is not just misplaced priorities; it is dangerous policy that is compromising the ability of our law enforcement officers to do their jobs while jeopardizing public safety. At this morning’s press conference, we heard firsthand accounts of how dangerous and reckless the policies out of Albany have been. Those grieving the loss of a loved one pleaded with us to make meaningful reforms to our criminal justice reforms so no other family has to be put through what they have had to endure. Our ‘Restore Order’ plan is needed in the state of New York to stop the scourge of unnecessary violence.”

The following legislation is included in the initiative:

“With these common-sense, but important reforms, we can help to rein in the dangerous increase in violence that we are experiencing in our cities and communities across our state. Many of my colleagues in the Majority have publicly expressed the need to address bail reform. It is my hope that they take the time now to address this with our Conference so violent offenders aren’t allowed back out on the streets to recommit crimes. We need to re-instill confidence in our law enforcement officers, rather than undermine them with dangerous and misplaced policy priorities out of Albany. We need to restore order and public safety back into our local communities to protect our families from dangerous and violent crime,” concluded Palmesano.