Of reform and reversion

Spurred by justifiable outrage over the killing of George Floyd, the police reform juggernaut continues apace. The City Council passed a suite of reform bills, including requiring that all officers show their badge numbers and banning chokeholds. These measures follow the state’s opening up police disciplinary records and formalizing the attorney general’s power to investigate police-involved killings.

All good. But we, the citizens and they, the politicians, must not take our eyes off the other ball. The police department’s main job is keeping the public safe and solving crimes. On this front, there are worrisome signs.

Over the last four weeks, murders in the five boroughs shot up by more than 25% as compared to the same time last year. The 159 homicides for the entire year (through last

Sunday) is 32 more than during the same period in 2019.

Shootings have also jumped, to 394 as of Sunday compared to 317 in the same period last year, with most victims in the city’s poorest and most heavily black and brown neighborhoods. Burglary is up more than 47%; auto theft is up 62%.

All this despite the fact that the streets were unnaturally quiet, and crime plunged accordingly, during nearly two full months of coronavirus shutdown.

Commissioner Dermot Shea points the finger at last year’s criminal justice measures. Targeted jail and prison pandemic releases might also be fueling mayhem.

Whatever it is, we need the very cops against whom so many are protesting to keep doing their jobs, and doing them well.