Bill Bratton: George Soros group is destroying the criminal justice system
Former NYC police commissioner argues the rise in crime in Democratic cities is a result of district attorneys refusing to prosecute.
Left-wing billionaire George Soros and his Open Society foundation are "destroying the criminal justice system in America," William Bratton – the former top cop in Boston, Los Angeles and New York City -- told Fox News on Wednesday, amid an exponential spike in crime in cities nationwide.
However, Bratton said, he is heartened by incoming New York Democratic Mayor-elect Eric Adams and Keechant Sewell, the current Nassau County, N.Y., chief of detectives Adams named to replace current NYPD commissioner Dermot Shea.
In San Francisco, Democratic Mayor London Breed criticized the ongoing rash of smash-and-grab robberies that critics claim are due in part to a California law that largely decriminalizes most thefts below a certain monetary threshold.
Bratton told "The Story" that police look "with some degree of doubt" on the change in narrative from mayors like Breed.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed speaks during a news conference at the future site of a Transitional Age Youth Navigation Center on Jan. 15, 2020 in San Francisco. (Getty Images)
"In the situation in San Francisco, like many other cities around the country, the mayor does not control the crime problem. The district attorneys are more significant in that situation," he said, pointing to Soros-funded district attorney Chesa Boudin, who is facing a popular recall in 2022.
"San Francisco, like Chicago, like Boston, like soon to be in New York, Atlanta – every one of these cities having problems, take a look at the district attorneys," he said.
"Most of them [are] funded by George Soros and his Open Society. They're destroying the criminal justice system in America," Bratton said. "They’re undoing 25 years of crime decline in America rapidly. Within the last two years, we have not seen anything like the crime increases in modern history."
Democratic candidate for New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York Governor Kathy Hochul greet each other after Adams is declared victor at his election night party in Brooklyn, New York, U.S. Nov. 2, 2021. (Reuters)
One of those Soros-funded district attorneys is Lawrence Krasner, who received a "seven-figure investment" from the Hungarian-American financier during his inaugural run in 2017, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Crime has similarly become out of control in Philadelphia, where Democratic Mayor James Kenney and Krasner saw the homicide count cross the 500 mark for the year in November, as thefts on the street have also made headlines lately.
Most recently, CCTV video showed a robbery in which a car pulled up alongside pedestrians near the Four Seasons Hotel. The occupants jumped out and pinned the victims against the wall, and stole $37,000 in Rolex watches from them.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, a Democrat, is shown (Getty Images)
Philadelphia's KYW-TV has reported that such robberies, often at gunpoint, have been happening "around the clock" since September in what is the birthplace of the United States.
"Thank the D.A.'s," Bratton said. "The mayors can talk all they want. The police chiefs can complain all they want, but if the district attorneys refuse to prosecute, you won’t see any changes."
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As for statements from politicians that the pandemic is causing thefts to rise, Bratton said the virus is an "influence" at times, but not an excuse.
"Crime was going up in New York City and New York State before the pandemic and in many American cities," he said. "Ironically it was used by the progressive woke left to accelerate letting people out of prison and making an excuse not to put them in jail because they would be exposed to the bias. They compounded the crime problem with COVID. It’s a lame excuse, to be quite frank with you."
Hungarian-born US investor and philanthropist George Soros has been bankrolling liberal causes across the globe for years. (Getty Images)
Bratton said that in New York City, Adams and Sewell appear to understand the importance of stemming "broken windows crime" – a term popularized during the Giuliani era that illustrates how more major crimes can be prevented if smaller crimes are prosecuted. Outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio ended broken-windows policing during his term.
"You have to do both [crack down on violent crime and broken-windows] at the same time. That was the success I had in the [MTA] Subway in the 90s, in 1994, the success in L.A. in 2002, the success in New York in 2014."
"There’s a big problem with offenders and victims. The district attorneys refuse to understand that they represent the victim, not the criminals. They flipped it on its head. The good news is New York has a mayor and commissioner focused on what worked in the past."
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