VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Pam Helming announces “PROTECT” Act
Madyson Diaz: And earlier today Syracuse senators and other officials made a major announcement at the city court. Our reporter Rahill Jaiswal is standing by and has more on the story. What can you tell us Rahill?
Rahill Jaiswal: Earlier today, around 10:30 a.m. in the morning, lots of local law enforcement officials, county executives and district senators came together to propose a bill. Now the bill is set to hopefully reform a couple of the laws right now when it comes to pre-trials. And overall, everyone hopes that the laws can help make communities safer. The proposed bill is called the Protection Act. It is set up to make sure that people can be safe in their neighborhoods and that the current crime rate in Syracuse continues to decrease. According to Sen. Mark Walczyk, it’s all about making sure convicted felons are put through the correct process before being released.
Mark Walczyk: Make sure that judges have the tool, the simple tool, to determine the dangerousness of someone who has committed a crime before they are released back into the public.
Rahill: Other senators and local executives like Ryan McMahon and Pam Helming expressed that enough is enough. These reforms have been something that’s long overdue.
Ryan McMahon: It’s about crime rates going down, but the reality is if there’s public policy that allows for just one crime to happen where it shouldn’t have, then we haven’t done our job well.
Pam Helming: We need to fix them now because every single day that we wait, that we don’t, another person loses their life. Another business is destroyed.
Rahill: As of now, there is no timetable on when they would like the bill to pass. However, Helming and others are putting as much pressure as they can on Gov. Kathy Hochul, hoping that this is something that can pass very quickly. Now guys, a lot of executives gave a real emotional statement today, including Pam Helming, who talked about the story of a mother who was recently stabbed by someone who had just been let out of custody pretty easily. She said that this is the main reason why she is so, so consumed with trying to pass this bill and why it really means a lot to her. But as of now, that’s all I have reporting from Syracuse, Rahill Jaiswal, NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Around 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Senator Pam Helming and other officials held a press conference to announce a new bill called the “PROTECT” Act.
There are four major focuses of the bill:
1. It creates a standardized risk assessment tool that judges must utilize when making decisions regarding pre-trial custody.
2. It allows judges to consider a defendant’s dangerousness when determining pre-trial custody-aligning New York with every other state in the nation.
3. It also ensures that high risk and repeat offenders remain in custody pending trial, unless a court determines that the threat they pose to themselves can be adequately mitigated.
4. It allows courts to direct that defendants experiencing mental illness receive a psychiatric assessment and appropriate treatment.
Several officials shared emotional stories about people who have lost loved ones due to convicted felons being released. Helming talked about a mother who was stabbed to death by a man who had already been charged with assaulting her. That is one of the main reasons Helming is very passionate about this bill.
There is no time table for when they would like the bill to pass. However, everyone put lots of pressure on Gov. Kathy Hochul to make sure this bill gets passed. Helming expressed lots of frustration about the current state of the laws. She emphasized that change is needed.
Overall, the hope is that this can make Syracuse communities safer and help decrease the crime rate.