Uptick in property crime in western NY.

0:00 Speaker 1 Fourth of July weekend. Everybody’s concerned about crime with us today is Sheriff John Garcia, and he is the sheriff of Erie County on the other side of New York State, on western New York State, and he’s been the Erie County sheriff since January of twenty twenty two. Sheriff Garcia, everybody’s worried about crime? Tell us how is Western New

0:26 York doing well? Sir?

0:29 Speaker 2 Thank you again for having me on your show. Fantastic show, number one in the country. Should be very proud. The crime rate here is we’re having a uptick in property crimes due to the disastrous bail reform. When you don’t hold people accountable for their actions, what happens is they continue to do so.

0:52 Speaker 1 So with.

0:55 Speaker 2 The bail reform, what we’ve seen is a lot of victims having to suffer through these crimes, property crimes, be it solen vehicles and break ins and so forth, and it’s had a very negative impact on us. One of the biggest issuer is right now the New York State Departments of Corrections. Obviously, we’ve all heard what happened there

1:22 with the corrections officers. Forty five hundred people lost their jobs, and it’s been a disaster for all the counties, not only Erie County, but all the other sixty one counties in New York State because the so called state ready incarcerated are not being sent to New York State Department of Corrections because the governor has put a stop to that.

1:50 So therefore our population has increased by over thirty percent and Erie County taxpayers are on the hook. It’s cost the New York States one hundred million dollars a month. They have the National Guard, who by the way, is not prepared to deal with in the corrections. So it’s caused in New York State one hundred million dollars a

2:13 month for the National Guard and to pay the existing corrections officers two and halftime over time.

2:20 Speaker 1 It is sheriff, excuse me, I have to say, Wow, that is a big number.

2:27 Speaker 2 Yeah, that’s one one point two billion a year, sir, that.

2:31 Speaker 1 Is a big number. Now is it getting any better or worse?

2:39 Speaker 2 Well, So this was a fef by the governor saying we’re not going to take the people that are rightfully already convicted and sentenced and are supposed to go to New York State Department or Corrections. You know it’s county sheriffs.

2:57 We can’t do that. When people are sentenced, we we take them into our custody and prepare to transfer them to New York State Department of Corrections. They started a couple weeks ago where they’re taking seventy five to one hundred statewide. Now you’ve got to remember state wide involves New York City too, so the numbers have gone up

3:19 dramatically from twenty two hundred statewide and we’re approaching three thousand statewide. It’s a huge problem for every county sheriff’s office and taxpayers because the trickle down effect is that now we have to pay for the housing and lodging and medications that, by the way, are very expensive. A lot of the incarcerated, unfortunately, they have the same issues

3:44 that people out in the community have with drug addictions. So the metho owne costs the boxing. Unfortunately, some have cancer. It’s tens of thousands of dollars. It’s costing us in medication. And you know, they’re state ready there they should be in state prison. And it’s been a disaster and they dropped the ball and we’re facing the consequences.

4:12 Speaker 1 That that that is serious things. UH is the uh what’s happening in New York City where I live is right now? Uh? I guess Tom Homan is coming down and using the power of the federal government UH to aid New York City and getting rid of the criminals.

4:32 Because in New York City, I guess the joke we tell says, if the Tom Homan gets a hold of these criminals, they go directly to Guantanamo, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars. So the criminals are hiding.

4:48 Speaker 2 Well, I mean, that’s good for the forgotten people of New York State, which are the victims. Remember the victims. They’re the ones that did not want to be that they were walking to their car, a criminal came up to them, punched them in the face, robbed them, or sold their vehicle. We are putting more emphasis on the

5:16 criminal than we are under victim, the forgotten people of New York State. And it just astonished me that we live in such a great county, in every county, in such a great state. The people are fantastic, and we have all these pro criminal legislation that’s coming down and affecting every single county. And by the way, sir, every

5:43 mandate that comes out of New York State and the legislature is unfunded, always unfunded, so it makes the taxpayers pay for every liberal policy that you can think of.

6:02 Speaker 1 Well, Sheriff John Garcia, thank you so much for bringing all of people stayed in New York up to date. And God bless you and I will talk again real soon.

6:16 Speaker 2 And Happy birthday to our great nation celebrating two hundred and forty nine years sir radio station on Earth.

6:22 Speaker 1 Absolutely God bless America.

6:24 Speaker 2 Thank you so much, God bless Take care, sir,