Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark is dropping the ball, the city’s apical bull said Tuesday.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the northernmost borough is lagging mode down connected cracking down connected crime, calling Clark’s turf “the implicit champion place” In the Big Apple to bargain a car.
“And speaking of nary consequences,” Tisch said, “if you’re funny successful stealing a car, the implicit champion spot to bash it is successful the Bronx. Why? Because chances are bully that you’ll lone beryllium charged with misdemeanor transgression possession of stolen spot and sent connected your way.
“Auto theft is simply a felony – truthful it needs to beryllium charged arsenic a felony,” she said astatine the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City meal forum successful Midtown connected Tuesday morning. “And erstwhile you don’t complaint appropriately … you extremity up starring the metropolis successful stolen cars by a wide margin.”
Car thefts were down 12% successful the metropolis successful the archetypal 4th of the years — but the Bronx is bucking the inclination with a 3.6% bump successful stolen vehicles, according to Tisch.
The NYPD transgression stats referenced by the commissioner were not instantly disposable for review.
The comments came successful the aftermath of Tisch’s caller onslaught connected prime of life crimes, portion of a program to dedicate 2,000 cops citywide to ace down connected the astir predominant 311 complaints from New Yorkers.
The inaugural launched astatine six metropolis precincts past week and is owed to grow successful the coming months.
“I americium channeling the dependable of virtually each NYPD cop and everyday New Yorker erstwhile I say: Enough is enough,” Tisch said. “New York State laws, New York City laws, and interior prosecutorial policies person handcuffed the police, exposed them to untenable risk, and allowed criminals to prey connected victims again and again and again.
“But the bully quality is, overmuch of this is supremely solvable. It’s conscionable a substance of getting it done.”
Clark has been a predominant people of critics who contend the authoritative is lax connected crime.
Data from the authorities Division of Criminal Justice Services successful 2023 showed that Clark’s bureau had the worst condemnation and dismissal rates successful astir each large transgression class successful New York City implicit the past half-decade, The Post reported astatine the time.
In a connection Tuesday, the Bronx DA’s bureau responded to Tisch’s comments by saying that “there is simply a quality betwixt what the constabulary complaint astatine apprehension and what we tin beryllium successful court.
“Charging decisions are made with the utmost integrity and we bash not complaint unless we person the evidence,” the connection said. “Given that the Bronx is simply a hub for the merchantability of cars stolen from different jurisdictions, we volition proceed our stepped-up efforts to code car crimes and clasp radical accountable for them.”
The connection besides said that the DA’s bureau has a “productive partnership” with the NYPD Auto Crime portion to code car thefts that is focused connected “long-term investigations and car theft crews.
“This attack allows america to interrupt the patterns of these crimes and prosecute vigorously.”