NEW YORK — District Attorney Alvin Bragg is making good on a campaign promise to initiate criminal justice reform. In a memo sent out this week, the new district attorney laid out his plan on how he will prosecute low-level crimes.

The memo is being criticized by the head of the union representing detectives. 

“We’ve seen this in the past, not enforcing low-level crimes in the 90s. It didn’t work,” said Paul Digiacomo, the president of the Detectives' Endowment Association. 

Digiacomo said one of the instructions in the memo, to not prosecute people resisting arrest for certain crimes, encourages criminals to do just that.

“My initial thought was that it’s going to not only put the public in danger, but the detectives and police officers that are out in the street in harms way,” Digiacomo said.

In the memo, staff were told to no longer pursue sentences of life without parole. They were also instructed to only pursue incarceration of more than 20 years in exceptional circumstances, among others changes.

There are five overarching themes of the memo, including: investing in more alternatives to incarceration; reducing pre-trial incarceration; focusing on accountability, not sentence length; limiting youth in adult court; and actively supporting those who are re-entering society.

“DA Bragg is not asking for anything that is unheard of," said Alice Fontier, the managing director of Neighborhood Defender Service, a Harlem-based organization that provides free public defenders. "These things are happening right next-door, right across the river."

Fontier said the new Manhattan DA's policies are similar to those in Brooklyn and the Bronx. She supports the changes, though she said there will be pushback from judges.

“DA Bragg has an uphill battle here," Fontier said. "But I hope that he has, and his office has, the strength to implement his campaign promises that were in his day one memo."

Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain, has vowed to be tough on crime, but when asked about the district attorney’s policy reform, Adams spoke highly of him.

“I want to stop the feeders of crime and stop the crimes that are happening right now," Adams said Tuesday. "And I think DA Braggs, who I think is a brilliant district attorney, I think he’s going to bring a new flavor. He’s going to deal with violent crimes and we’re going to sit down and we’re going to be partners together to make it happen,” Adams said on Tuesday.

The union representing police officers would also like to meet with the district attorney. The Police Benevolent Association’s president said he worries the DA is effectively telling criminals there will be no consequences for their crimes. 

The district attorney’s policies go into effect immediately.