Stay tuned for the next townhall which is being held tonight, Wednesday, May 19th with Menachem Light who will be interviewing Josue Pierre who is a candidate for the city council position of the 40th district.
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As the city gets closer and closer to the June 22nd primaries, it is important that we all get to know the candidates who are running, and what their positions are. Recently, the Brooklyn DA, Mr. Eric Gonzalez hosted a townhall where he addressed a number of issues and concerns that all residents of Brooklyn are asking about, and that is public safety.
The DA went into great depth on how the spike in gun violence is extremely concerning, and the only way to address this is further expand the collaboration between his office, the NYPD, federal law enforcement officials and local law enforcement officials down south, so that the can go after not just the gun runners, but also the gun buyers. In addition, there is also the challenge for the DA to build cases against those committing these acts of gun violence, since in many instances witnesses are fearful of coming forward, due to fear or retaliation. The DA said that there needs to be a closer collaboration between these communities who are unfortunately being affected by the gun violence, and to ensure that his office has the support they need, so that they can build the cases to prosecute these individuals.
The DA also discussed the spike in hate crimes. He would like this mayor or the next mayor to really address and take the homelessness and mental health issues seriously. In many of the situations he is finding that the folks committing these crimes are either homeless or have a mental health issue, which in turn makes it much harder for his office to then prosecute. The DA also touched on the topic of bail reform, and said clearly how the way bail reform was passed was not correct. He would like to have judges to be allowed more discretion as to whether to confine defendants coming before them in jail until their trial, or to release them and return for their trial. Cash bail he believed was not the right system, since it jailed folks for misdemeanor and other petty crimes, when the focus should be on whether the subject is a continued threat to the public safety, and if they are to be kept off the streets vs having to allow them bail where they might commit a crime again.
The DA went to great length in discussing some of the success his office had during the height of the pandemic, like for example securing Orders of Protection to ensure the safety of victims of violence. He was also appreciative of the outpouring of support from members of the public, especially the Jewish community for their outreach, to ensure that his staff had ample PPE and resources to continue doing the work they do in a safe and healthy manner.
The DA ended the townhall by calling on the community. His office is seeking members of the public who would like to help him continue to pursue justice for the residents of Brooklyn, so that they should apply to work for his team. He is not only seeking lawyers, but folks who have a wide range of skills that his office will be seeking out, so that his office can be better suited to serve the Brooklyn community going forward.
