Thread by @JoeBorelliNYC

🧵 We need to be clear about something when we talk about gun violence: we already have laws against the gun that killed PO Rivera, specifically the high-capacity magazine. 1

We already have laws against the manner in which he possessed it, how he acquired it, and how it was transported from Baltimore to Harlem. 2

This heinous crime proves laws are meaningless if they are not enforced. The individuals to whom we lend the power of the state to enforce these laws are called police officers, prosecutors and judges. 3

That’s why it’s so bizarre to hear the same people who said “Defund the Police” now say we have to stop gun violence… like who’s gunna stop it? 4

We decided to reform the way police officers interact w the community. Many of those reforms are beneficial & welcome, but its undeniable that ending plain-clothes anti-crime teams, which were responsible for seizing the bulk of illegal guns off the street, has had an impact. 5

More controversially, going from way too many stop, question & frisk encounters to a fraction of them came w it the decreased likelihood of known gang members & dealers etc. being questioned. They resulted in many gun arrests. Just a fact. Perhaps there’s a new balance needed. 6

Moreover, in 2016, the last year I easily found stats, Prosecutors dropped charges on 2/3 of all gun arrests in NYC. Like literally shitcanned gun crimes. 7

When we talk about “ending the carceral system” or whatever, this was the result 1,128 times that year: people caught with illegal guns were given reduced or no punishment that the law allows. 8 nbcnewyork.com/news/local/gun…

So even when we got a suspect with an illegal gun – the progressive approach was to go light. There is no political force calling for this other than progressive far-left democrats. 9

And that was before we had Alvin Bragg. Cy Vance at least had a higher rate of prosecuting gun crimes. You’re welcome to google DA Bragg to see his policy on gun crimes. 10

And that was also before bail reform. Not only might your time be reduced, but you likely will skip pre-trial detention. Even Democrats are now suggesting adding more gun crimes to the eligible bail list: observertoday.com/news/page-one/… 11

Reporters should ask or search webCrims how often a felony arrest for criminal possession of an illegal weapon somehow magically becomes an “attempted” possession of a firearm, a misdemeanor, despite a fact pattern that clearly shows possession. How progressive. 12

So what are we suggesting now?  How are the “defund” folks now suggesting we “stop out of state guns” ? 12

Spoiler: We’re not setting up checkpoints at the holland tunnel or on the thruway. ITS GOING TO BE THROUGH POLICING AND PROSECUTING! (But they always known that) 13

Like seriously, who’s going to review hours of tape? Who’s going to develop confidential informants? Who’s going to plant undercovers? Who’s going to monitor wiretaps? Who’s going to interview witnesses? Who is going to stakeout vehicles? Honestly. 14

Obviously, it’s the same police they wanted to defund, or worse, framed as the root cause of violence in disadvantaged communities.

How do #NYPD do all that, & answer calls like the DV incident which started all this, without funding for adequate man/hours? Whats the answer? 15

And – we need prosecutors and judges who will actually throw the book at suspects caught with illegal guns. Stop electing Alvin Braggs. 16

Just take a real world example - the teen carrying a gun that just happened to shot a cop two weeks ago was arrested with a gun months earlier… he got sentenced to probation. That’s a failure of stopping gun violence right there. abc7ny.com/amp/nypd-cop-s… 17

Let’s have that honest conversation