In recent weeks, judges and their rulings have increasingly been called out publicly by NYPD leaders.

CUNY Law professor Steven Zeidman believes, “It seems to have support at the very top of the NYPD. I think all the way up to the mayor.”

What You Need To Know

  • In interviews and social media posts, the Governor, the Mayor and NYPD leaders are partially blaming judges for a rise in subway crime

  • Legal scholars are questioning the NYPD's criticism

  • City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams also voiced her concerns about the NYPD's tactic

NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell wrote Thursday, “Hold judges to account,” in a social media message about subway safety.

On Wednesday’s “Mornings on 1,” NYPD Transit Chief Michael Kemper referenced a judge’s decision in a recent subway assault saying, “Against the wishes of the prosecutor, the judge released a suspect on her own recognizance. Well, guess what? She was arrested again yesterday in Manhattan.”

In a social media message viewed 200,000 times, Chell named a judge last week, writing, “She set free a predator back into the community, who may be on your next train, or walking the streets of our city, looking for his next victim.”

The post referenced the wrong judge and the wrong county in the case.

“That doesn’t instill confidence that if they’re going to do this, they’re going to do it well, that they really had any interest in getting the facts right,” Zeidman said.

Columbia Law professor Jeffrey Fagan believes criticism from the NYPD will have little impact on how a judge actually rules.

“I don’t know if their decisions are going to be changed whatsoever. These are judges who were making decisions within the parameters of the law and using their best judgement,” Fagan said.

When asked about the NYPD’s social media posts on judges, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams responded, “To me its very, very troubling that we would see a city agency, particularly as potent as the NYPD, performing these actions on social media. It’s not something we would encourage our children to do.”

Mayor Eric Adams recently defended the outspoken officers on 1010 WINS.

“The goal is not to call out a judge for doing his job,” Adams said. “It gets to you when you see those repeat offenders over and over again being released back out on the street, and you feel sometimes that the other arms of the criminal justice system are not hearing that everyday New Yorkers are the victims of these crimes.”