Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
REMARKS
Commission members reflect on their approach and the potential impact of their recommendations
0:22:40
·
111 sec
Jonathan Lippman and Stanley Richards offer reflections on the commission's approach to problem-solving and the potential impact of their recommendations.
- Lippman emphasizes the commission's refusal to accept 'it can't be done' as an answer
- Highlights the innovative approach to reducing the jail population by at least 2,000 people over the next couple of years
- Stanley Richards provides historical context, noting the significant reduction in incarceration rates over the past decades
- Stresses the correlation between reduced incarceration and increased public safety
- Emphasizes the importance of investing in alternatives to incarceration and housing to continue improving community safety
Jonathan Lippman
0:22:40
really Can I just add one other thing that we didn't accept when people said, whether it was administration, stakeholders, whoever it was, it can't be done?
0:22:51
You know?
0:22:52
That's not the answer.
0:22:53
I take it in the area that I'm most familiar, the courts where we when I was the chief judge too, we tried them.
0:23:00
We tried to do case delays.
0:23:03
You know?
0:23:03
It let's do a a quick hitting parts that made good numbers but didn't necessarily produce the result.
0:23:13
I asked Chief Judge Wilson, my successor, Judge Zayas, the Chief Administrative Judge, what can be done that's never been done before?
0:23:23
And that's what they came back with.
0:23:25
And that's why we think we can cut the jail population by at least 2,000 people over the next couple of years.
Stanley Richards
0:23:32
And and I just wanna add to that because I think for me that's a really important thing.
0:23:36
When I look at this work, I've been in this work over thirty four years.
0:23:39
When I look at this work, when I was in the system, there was 22,000 people incarcerated in New York City jails.
0:23:45
Right?
0:23:46
There was 72,000 people incarcerated in New York State prisons.
0:23:50
Right?
0:23:50
We have seen over the years two things happen.
0:23:53
The number of people incarcerated going down.
0:23:56
We see those numbers going up in city.
0:23:58
We're over 6,000.
0:23:59
But we went from 22,000 to where we're at right now.
0:24:02
And at the same time, we've seen our city get safer and safer.
0:24:07
How do we do it?
0:24:08
Because we all leaned in together.
0:24:10
We understood that the investments that we need to make in alternatives to incarceration, in housing, and all of the recommendations we do help make our community safer.
0:24:21
And so there is a lesson to be learned in our history that we need to lean into again and hold on to as we approach this moment in time.