Nassau County lawmakers seek data on defendants released without bail

Nassau legislators voted Monday night to require the county police department to publish quarterly reports detailing crimes allegedly committed by defendants released without bail.

The legislation is a direct response to a new state criminal justice law that took effect Jan. 1. The law eliminated cash bail for people charged with misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies.

Majority Republicans introduced the bill, which was approved Feb. 10 by legislative committees. The vote Monday night passed 19-0.

In the quarterly reports, the police department will have to provide specific data about defendants released without bail. The reports will be sent to the Nassau legislature by May 1, Aug. 1, Nov. 1, and Feb. 1.

The police department will be required to publish:

• The total number of defendants released without bail in Nassau, along with the charges against them and a short, narrative description of the alleged crimes.
• The number of bench warrants issued for failing to attend a criminal action or proceeding, including the charges against those defendants and a short summary of the alleged crimes.
• The number of crimes allegedly committed by defendants while released without bail, including the charges and a short description of the crimes.

Presiding Officer Richard Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park) said the idea for the legislation came in response to New York State legislators who accused opponents of the criminal reform law of fearmongering and committing "a rush to judgment." He mentioned Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) and State Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Queens), by name.

Nicolello referred to comments by Heastie earlier this month when the speaker told reporters "you need real data, real information, not cherry-picked stories and sensationalized events to try to paint a picture as to whether a law is working or not."

Nicolello said, "The entire purpose of this legislation is to gather that data, and to be able to present … to our state legislators, real data, not just anecdotal stories, which I think will help us to convince our representatives in Albany that there needs to be change."

The administration of County Executive Laura Curran has said the police department already compiles crime statistics each month.

Curran said in a statement that she would ultimately sign the bill.

“My administration has been very open with proactively providing statistics to any resident, reporter or lawmaker that requests them and will happily organize the data into a format for our County Legislators to easily understand. While I don’t believe an entirely new law has to be created in order to facilitate this practice, I will sign the bill with the safety and security of our communities as my number one focus.”

Backers of the state law say many low-income defendants were jailed simply because they could not afford to post cash or bond bail set by a judge.

Also Monday, the legislature confirmed the appointment of Hempstead Supervisor Donald Clavin to serve on the Long Island Regional Planning Council, a bicounty commission that focuses on economic, environmental and social issues on Long Island.

Curran, a Democrat, nominated Clavin, a Republican, to the council. All 19 members of the county legislature voted in favor of his nomination.

"I look forward to working with all my colleagues on it," he said. "I will cherish  ... that everyone is willing to vote for this, it will be the only time that I'll be able to get all 19 of you to vote for me …" Clavin said, tongue-in-cheek.

The legislature also directed the Nassau County Assessment Review Commission to extend the deadline for filing a tax grievance to April 2, from March 2, for the 2021-2022 tax year. Curran last month had directed ARC to grant the extension after legislative Republicans filed the legislation.

By Scott Eidler

scott.eidler@newsday.com@ScottEidler

Scott Eidler is a deputy editor for the towns department at Newsday. Scott has worked at Newsday since 2012 and previously covered municipal government and education.