Finding Balance in Criminal Justice Reform

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — Data from the state Division of Criminal Justice Services shows violent crime, thefts and burglaries are declining outside of New York City.

However, some law enforcement officials continue to say that bail reform and changes to the Raise the Age law prevent them from keeping repeat offenders and dangerous criminals off the streets.

That’s why Niagara County Sheriff Michael Filicetti is joining other sheriffs in planning to create a Community Safety Consortium.

“When we talk about repeat offenders, it’s very, very frustrating,” Filicetti said. “A ticket is given and someone commits another crime, and they get another ticket and another. In the eyes of the community, it’s almost like, you know, “You’re really not going to be able to help me here.”

Filicetti said the data doesn’t tell the whole story from law enforcement’s perspective. His agency has noted a slight increase in burglaries in 2022.

Filicetti said he is following the lead of Monroe County Sheriff Todd Baxter in inviting the community to brainstorm ideas to help solve the problem.

“No one is calling for the repeal of these consortia. Really, what we are asking for are common-sense changes,” he said. “We have to have the capacity, judges have to have the capacity to say, ‘wait a minute, this individual is a repeat offender.’ Enough is enough.’

Bail reform and laws to raise the age were put in place, lawmakers and advocates say, to level the playing field.

Raise the Age aimed to help young people avoid ending up in the criminal justice system by raising the age of criminal responsibility to 18.

Bail reform eliminated cash bail for misdemeanors and misdemeanors, so that those with less economic means are not kept in jail because they cannot afford to pay bail.

Trent Hamilton is one of the defenders of these laws. He spent six years in prison for drug trafficking after spending four years in pre-trial detention.

“When they say you’re innocent until proven guilty, I was guilty until proven guilty,” Hamilton said.

He runs the Entrepreneur School of Thoughts in Niagara Falls, a community center aimed at bringing people together and providing resources to those who need them, in the name of self-reliance.

Hamilton uses his story to show others how to take back control of their lives.

“I always talk to young people about my story and my redemption side, because we often glorify what a person did to go to prison, but we don’t often glorify what they do after they get out. It’s a positive thing they’re doing to avoid prison and to prevent others from going through similar situations,” Hamilton said.

Several changes have been made to criminal justice reform in recent years, including changing bail reform to give more discretion to judges, which critics of the original law advocated to prevent repeat offenders to end up on the street.