New York City Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Bill Bratton says the U.S. needs to be very careful about who it is releasing from prison.
His call for prudence comes after President Obama announced he would release 6,000 inmates in the largest one-time release of federal prisoners ever. The release is scheduled to take place from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2.
“We have to be very concerned about who we’re letting out,” Bratton said in an interview with host John Catsimatidis on AM 970 New York on Sunday.
{mosads}“One of the issues of concern is when people go to jail, often times they go to jail with negotiated charges, if you will, so that somebody that is in jail that seems like they’re non-violent, they may in fact have crimes of violence in their record,” Bratton said.
The commissioner also said the public needs to come to the realization that some criminals are beyond rehabilitation.
He pointed to the case of Randolph Holder, 33, an NYPD detective who was allegedly killed last month by a man who had been arrested 28 times prior.
“Judges need to – and district attorneys, and we the police, and the public – need to take into account that some people, I’m sorry, they’re criminals,” Bratton said.
“Some people are bad people, and we need to separate the bad people from the good people,” he added.
Bratton also weighed in on the issue of guns in America, advocating both sides “find some common ground” in the debate over access to and the proliferation of firearms in the country.