MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Middletown Mayor Tony Perry appeared on “Fox & Friends” this past Monday morning, where he continued to espouse his point of view that New Jersey needs to do away with bail reform.
New York and New Jersey both passed bail reform in recent years, which is where someone accused of car theft, burglary or other crimes deemed non violent are usually released after being arrested, instead of being held in jail on a cash or bond bail. Bail reform was signed into law under the theory that lower-income people — and usually young people of color — were being held in jail for weeks at a time because they could not afford to post bail.
However, ending bail reform is now a popular talking point for Republicans in both New York and New Jersey, citing a spike in car thefts and other crimes last year. Monmouth County logged 600 stolen cars in 2022, up more than 300 percent compared to the 140 cars stolen county-wide in 2017.
Perry is a Republican. You can watch Perry’s interview Monday morning here: https://www.foxnews.com/video/…
“We have a real problem here, not just in Middletown but across the state of New Jersey. And that’s because of the failed policies that the state is putting out there that is rewarding these criminals and not punishing them for the crimes they’re committing,” Perry told “Fox & Friends.” “That’s why were fighting back to change this law and change it immediately.”
Last week, Perry announced Middletown Township filed a legal complaint with the state of New Jersey to reimburse Middletown for approximately $325,000 Perry says he has had to allocate on extra police patrols to deter car thefts and home break-ins.
“What a lot of people don’t understand across the country is that in New Jersey, because of the proximity to the big shipping ports, these guys will steal cars, drive them over to one of the ports, put them into a shipping container … they lose track of them, and all those ships with the cars wind up overseas,” said “Fox & Friends” host Steve Doocy.
“That’s exactly right,” said Perry. “We are very close to the port of Elizabeth, the port of Newark … And if you think these are just kids coming down and stealing these vehicles … these are crime rings shipping these vehicles to South America, shipping them to Africa, shipping them to Europe. We need to be tough on all levels of government against this type of crime.”
On this topic: Middletown Files Complaint With State Over Bail Reform (Jan. 18)
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