To the Editor:
When he was running for the New York State Senate for the first time two years ago, Rich Amedure stopped to talk to me. He literally tried to paint a picture of mobs of criminals roaming through the streets of Guilderland. He was unfamiliar with legislation that had recently passed that I mentioned, but he was willing to engage in fear-mongering.

Two years later, Republicans are fixated on crime. Gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin promises to declare a “crime emergency” if he is elected, whatever “crime emergency” means. Candidates running in New York blame perceived crime on New York’s bail reform law.

Funny thing, though. After the incident in which David Jakubonis stormed the podium at a Zeldin campaign event, Republicans squawked even more loudly about crime, about how Mr. Zeldin’s life was in danger, and about bail reform. Mr. Jakubonis was recently released into a treatment facility, a move for which Mr. Zeldin expressed support. On Oct. 3, Mr. Zeldin also stated, “We must strengthen access to mental health services,” a statement with which I agree.

However, Mr. Zeldin is a sitting congressman, and he did not vote on the recent Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, nor did he vote on the Mental Health Matters Act, two bills that provide funding and support for mental-health services. Mr. Zeldin’s doublespeak and hypocrisy are astounding: He is a congressman, and he failed to even vote on two pieces of legislation that will help “strengthen access to mental health services,” a need which Mr. Zeldin himself recognized.

To hear Mr. Zeldin, Mr. Amedure, congressional candidate Liz Joy, and Republican candidates at all levels speak, New York is a lawless wasteland due to bail reform. However, their rationale, that crime is rampant in New York due to the state’s bail reform law, cannot by any stretch of the imagination explain crime in other states, including states led by Republicans.

New York Republicans rely on the tabloid New York Post to sensationalize crime in New York City, but New York’s law cannot possibly explain the high per capita murder rates in such states as Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, and other rural, Republican-led states.

Sadly, and to the detriment of New Yorkers, these Republican candidates engage in stoking fear. Mr. Amedure and Ms. Joy have not held elected office, so neither has a voting record on crime-related legislation.

However, Mr. Zeldin is a congressman, and, despite his current focus on crime and attempts to instill fear, he did not vote on recent legislation aimed at improving access to mental-health services, a need which Mr. Zeldin himself recognized and which would benefit New Yorkers and all Americans.

If he were sincere about reducing crime, he would have voted on these bills, thereby taking a position on them and also performing his duties as a congressman. By not doing so, he is showing his hypocrisy and is not qualified to serve as governor of New York.

Jill Loew

Guilderland

Editor’s note: Richard Amedure told The Enterprise that he does not recall conversing with Jill Loew, but said he was concerned about crime at the time and still is. 

“We did say a lot of things were going to happen because of bail and discovery reform laws, and I think it is happening,” he said. “ … It’s kind of naive to say, ‘Because it’s not in my backyard, it’s not happening.’” 

When asked if he was specifically concerned about crime in Guilderland at the time, Amedure said, “Crime in one area is going to spread out to other areas. Crime is not something that is bound by political jurisdictions and town lines … As things get worse in Albany, they’re eventually going to spill out into the suburbs.”

There is wide disagreement over how bail reform has impacted crime in the state, since the increase in crime in New York State, which does correspond with bail reform, occurred as crime rose throughout the country, including in places that have more traditional bail laws. 

However, while overall crime has increased statewide since 2019, it is almost 25 percent lower than it was in 2012 according to police report data, including from New York City published by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. Rape and murder are the only two categories that have increased since that time — by 119.5 percent and 27.9 percent respectively — with the huge increase in rape attributable to changes to the legal definition of rape made by the state in 2015.

The trend is similar in Albany County data, with overall crime decreasing since 2017, but with an uptick in murder and aggravated assault.