We must take back our streets and support our Law Enforcement!

All New Yorkers want the same thing – a safe, affordable place to raise a family. We all want our children to play outside without any worries. Many of us commute to New York City and had felt safe for period of time in "America’s safest city" This was in thanks to the hard work of the NYPD and the "Broken Windows" model of policing.

The Broken Windows theory teaches that visible signs of crime, and civil disorder encourages further crime and disorder, including serious crimes. The theory suggests that policing methods that target minor crimes such graffiti, public drinking, trespassing and fare evasion help to create an atmosphere of order and lawfulness. This model took NYC from the murder capital of the country from the 1970s to the early 1990s,driving down crime to record lows and creating a Renaissance and a booming New York City metropolitan area. New York was back and home prices skyrocketed here in Nassau County. The county’s crime rates plummeted and our close proximity to NYC made Nassau County the place to raise a family. The media at the time praised our law enforcement, our elected officials had their backs and if you wanted to be elected as DA anywhere, you had to be tough on crime!

But something changed, the media and some elected officials turned. We had grown use to our safe neighborhoods and many forgot or were too young to remember the high crime of yesterday. A new movement was on its way to change our system as a whole. The first step was not enforcing low level crimes. Some elected officials ran successfully on the platform of less enforcement.

Next up were changes in Albany under Criminal Justice Reform, often referred to as "Bail Reform." This law took away judicial discretion in setting bail for misdemeanors and what were dubbed as "non-violent" felonies including: stalking, assault without serious injury, burglary, many drug offenses, and even some kinds of arson and robbery. Stripping judicial discretion was a major shift. Judges could no longer set bail for these charges, nor could they determine the suspects’risk to the public or the likelihood they would repeat the crimes. Albany passed this legislation without input from law enforcement professionals, judges and local District Attorneys. The law went even further to pass changes that many considerto be witness intimidation. What’s more, with changes in discovery laws, prosecutors must now provide to the defense the names and contact of victims and witnesses. The defense is free to contact victims and witnesses. These include victims of sexual assault and witnesses to gang violence. Do you doubt this causes victims and witnesses to no longer want to cooperate out of fear or intimidation?

Soon the movement would demonize the brave men and women of our law enforcement. Call's to "Defund the Police" began. It became reality when Mayor de Blasio passed a budget that gutted the NYPD budget by $1 billion and disbanded the NYPD's plain clothes anti-crime units. The result was instant, as violent crime skyrocketed. Shootings, car-jackings and homicides were rising fast!

Now we are faced with a national crime wave that has also affected the city to our west that was not too long ago called the "safest city in America," where many no longer feel safe. It feels like the Gotham of old. Many are concerned the crime wave could move east to our backyard.

So how can we fix this? We start by electing tough on crime District Attorneys like we did last election cycle here in Nassau County. We must send elected officials to Albany who will demand the repeal "Bail Reform," return judicial discretion and allow victims of crime to feel protected again. We must send representatives to Washington who will stand up for our law enforcement and change the national narrative. We must all stand up for our Police Officers. This anti-law enforcement, pro criminal agenda must stop! We must "Fund" and "Defend" our police, not "Defund the Police." We must provide the tools, funding and public support to police officers to help them do the job of protecting us! It takes someone special to place themselves in harm’s way for the benefit of others. We must defend those who protect us. The time is now, together we can turn this around!

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Christopher Carini is a Town of Hempstead Councilman for the fifth councilmanic district . He also served 22 years as a police officer with the NYPD, MTA PD and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey .