ALBANY – The state Senate plans to pass a bill Monday named after an NYPD officer killed in the line of duty that is intended to keep repeat violent offenders off the street.
The Randolph Holder bill would require courts to consider an offender’s risk to the community, criminal history and the DA’s recommendation when considering diversion programs.
Tyrone Howard, who was in a diversion program after getting caught dealing crack, killed Holder on Oct. 20, 2015.
At the time, Mayor de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton blamed a loophole in the state law that allowed Howard to avoid jail despite several violent felonies and 25 prior arrests.
“Both of them said that the law was flawed and the law needed to be changed and here we are over a year later and there’s been no action on closing this loophole,” said Nicole Malliotakis, a Staten Island Republican who is sponsoring the bill in the Assembly.
“The justice system failed Officer Holder and failed his family,” said state Sen. Marty Golden, the Senate sponsor.
“I told that mother that we would do something… There are too many funerals. Ramos, Liu, the list goes on and on. We need to protect our officers. We need to protect our families. We need to protect our great city and state.”
Although de Blasio said the loophole should be closed, the measure faces opposition in the Assembly.
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