River Region Times

Washington, D.C. - On April 17, 2023, Rep. Barry Moore (AL-02) participated in the House Judiciary Committee's hearing on victims of violent crime in Manhattan to examine how Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's pro-crime, anti-victim policies have led to an increase in violent crime and a dangerous community for New York City residents. Witnesses included Jose Alba, a former Manhattan bodega clerk, Madeline Brame, Chairwoman of the Victim Rights Council and mother of a homicide victim, Jennifer Harrison, Founder of Victims Rights NY, Paul DiGiacomo, President of the New York City's Detectives' Endowment Association, Robert F. Holden, New York City Council (D-District 30), Barry Borgen, father of a victim of antisemitic hate crime, Jim Kessler, Co-Founder and Senior Vice President for Policy of Third Way, and Rebecca Fischer, Executive Director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence.

From his exchange with witness Paul DiGiacomo, President of the NYC Detectives' Endowment Association:

Rep. Moore: "With the DA [Alvin Bragg]'s new set of rules, are you seeing officers retire now and go into other lines of work?"

Mr. DiGiacomo: "Six hundred detectives retired this year alone. Just to give a clear consensus of what that means, in 2001 in the terrorist attacks we had 7,500 detectives. Right now, we're working with 5,400 detectives, and we're doing more investigative steps now than we were then because of the video cam assistance, and we're also doing counter-terrorism."

Rep. Moore: "I find it interesting that when a law enforcement officer uses a weapon to defend themselves, or even in pursuit of a criminal, it's always the law enforcement officer's fault. But when it's the criminal using the gun, it's always the gun's fault. How do we address that in society? Why does the left always drive that narrative?"

Mr. DiGiacomo: "Well it's very simple, it's the person that is handling the gun -- it's the criminal element that is using the gun and victimizing people here in New York City."

From his exchange with witness Jennifer Harrison, Founder of Victims' Rights NY:

Rep. Moore: "This is for all folks in blue cities, often they want to disarm law-abiding citizens and they say 'well, call the police,' but then at the same time, they're defunding the police. What kind of situation, Ms. Harrison, does that put society in, when you can't defend yourself?"

Ms. Harrison: "A horrible situation. At the same time, in the name of ending 'mass incarceration,' as they like to gaslight everybody with, they're releasing very violent recidivists with no oversight because they are removing any type of parole or supervision."

Rep. Moore's full remarks can be seen here: High-res | Twitter

Original source can be found here.