Critics claim Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg would let criminals off the hook

Critics say new progressive Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg would let criminals off the hook. 

Now they claim it is already happening. 

The New York Post reports that career criminal William Rolan was arrested for threatening a drug store worker with a knife, when he stole $2,000 worth of merchandise, but Bragg's office reportedly reduced the charges against Rolan, dropping the first degree robbery and criminal possession of a weapon counts. 

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"We will not sit idly by and watch a bloodbath ensue because of Alvin Bragg's dereliction of duty and failure to enforce the laws, " says Jennifer Harrison, who runs Victims Rights NY, an advocacy group for crime victims and their families. She says the group is starting a watchdog operation to keep an eye on Bragg's prosecutions, to ensure that he follows the law and not his progressive agenda. 

"This is the exact kind of case that we are watching because it will encourage additional crime and victimize the entire city." 

Harrison says the group will even bring charges against Bragg if he does not properly uphold the law. 

"We are going to have court watchers tracking cases and making sure that violent criminals get the justice and the sentences they deserve. We will help families file grievances and lawsuits if any kind of harmful injury occurs or if a death occurs due to Alvin Bragg's dereliction of duty." 

"There are a bunch of us victims' rights advocates and survivors of homicide victims groups that are coalescing and organizing to hold Alvin Bragg's office accountable." 

Bragg has sparked a firestorm after announcing that his office will no longer prosecute a variety of crimes, from resisting arrest to drug dealing. He has also laid out a plan that lowers the type of crimes that armed robbers, for example, can be charged with by reducing the charges to lesser counts. What has been considered felonies would be cut to misdemeanors, which would often mean no jail time for offenders. 

Bragg says he is changing prosecution strategies to address inequities in the criminal justice system, and he insists that his approach will make the city safer. But criminal justice experts say Bragg’s progressive approach will only fuel more crime and signal to criminals that they can get away with crime sprees. 

"Many of these policies are put in place in the name of racial equity, increasing fairness and justice across racial groups. And what we are seeing in jurisdiction after jurisdiction nationwide, is just a bloodbath and a bloodbath that's really concentrated in black communities," says Hannah E. Meyers, Director of Policing and Public Safety at The Manhattan Institute. 

"It's important and admirable to have sympathy and compassion for offenders, as well as victims. But what we are seeing is that these policies are getting pushed so enormously by people who do not have a lot of skin in the game, wealthy backers that put progressive prosecutors into office because it is an easy way to effect change in policy without going through the legislative process." 

Meyers says changing progressive prosecutors’ policies may be difficult because they are often so motivated by their left-leaning political views. 

"We haven’t seen in general, that progressive prosecutors are open to changing their message. They tend to be very ideologically driven," she says. 

Fox News asked Bragg's office for a reaction to Victims Rights NY's watchdog effort, but we have received no response. 

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"We are watching you Alvin, and we will take any and every action possible to get you to do your job and have you removed from office and replace you with someone who will," Harrison vows. 

Ben Evansky contributed to this report