A new study comparing California repeat offenders who posted bail with those who were allowed out at little or no cost under “Zero Bail” policies found that the latter group reoffended more often, faster, and he was charged with 200 times as many violent crimes.
“The impacts of bail on violent crime are obvious and terrible,” said Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig, whose office published the study. “I mean, we have more people getting shot, stabbed, assaulted, robbed, beaten. These are actual victims, and the numbers are staggering under zero bail.”
Under an emergency zero-bail rule at the height of the coronavirus pandemic meant to minimize jail overcrowding, bail costs dropped “drastically,” often to $0, according to the study.
After seeing the results, Reisig told Fox News Digital that they show “zero bail is a completely failed policy” and said his goal is for lawmakers to have the data collected and available when the state legislative session resumes.
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A graph showing a comparison of recidivism rates between suspects who posted bail and those who were released under the zero bail policy. (Yolo County District Attorney)
“It was very important to do this study to have data available to California lawmakers who continue to believe that this is the answer to all the problems in the criminal justice system, that bail will somehow make things better.” Reisig said. “And it’s not. It will only make everything more dangerous.”
The new study comes as a follow-up to an August survey on crime in Yolo County, which Reisig said was criticized for not having a control group. So this time, the analysis compared the rescued people with zero-bail suspects.
WATCH: Yolo County Attorney Jeff Reisig says zero bail is a failure across the board
Key study findings indicate that suspects released without bail were re-arrested on 163% more charges than those who posted bail, and re-offended 70% more often. Those repeat offenses resulted in felony charges 90% more often, and they were charged with three times as many violent crimes.
“We saw a spike in violent crime as soon as zero bail was implemented in our county by court order,” Reisig said. “And despite all of our best efforts to try to stop the practice, we were forced to continue with the zero bail system and watched our communities suffer as a result.”
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A new study comparing Yolo County, California, felons who posted bail with those who were released under “Zero Bail” found that the latter group reoffended earlier and more often. (Facebook/Yolo County Sheriff’s Office)
Suspects without bail were also, on average, arrested on new charges within 129 days, 56 days earlier than those who posted bail. And domestic violence suspects in particular also saw a shocking increase in recidivism.
“Every individual and every case must be evaluated by a judge, an independent magistrate, who can look at that person’s criminal record, look at the facts of the current case, and make an informed decision about what their risk level is and what’s going on.” . take to make sure they don’t go out and hurt someone again,” Reisig said. “That has to happen in every case.”
LOOK: Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig explains the purpose of the bond
Suspects posting bail have a financial interest in both their own freedom and their cooperation with the court, Reisig said.
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“It’s also psychologically much more difficult to plead guilty and surrender to serve time when you’re out of custody and enjoying freedom,” said Neama Rahmani, a Los Angeles trial attorney and former federal prosecutor. “That is why criminal defendants in custody plead guilty and accept responsibility at a higher percentage than those out on bail.”
Jailed suspects also get credit for time served, he said.
“A lot of us saw this coming and raised the alarm,” said Joseph Giacalone, a retired New York Police Department sergeant and professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “All we got was the ‘scaremonger’ label.”
The Yolo County study indicates that those fears may be well placed. And also the story of Mary Kate Tibbitts, who was murdered in her own Sacramento home in 2021.
“These politicians have blood on their hands, a lot of blood, including my sister’s blood.”
In September of that year, police charged Troy Davis, now 54, with murder, rape, malicious animal mutilation and arson after they claimed he broke into the 61-year-old woman’s home, assaulted her, killed his dogs and set the building on fire. on fire.
WATCH: Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig Speaks Out About the Nature of the Zero Bail Study
Davis had been released without bail months earlier on a car theft charge and skipped at least one court date before the attack, records show. Sacramento police arrested him a day after the murder, revealing that he was also an ex-con on parole with outstanding felony warrants.
Dan Tibbitts, the victim’s brother, told Fox News Digital that California Propositions 47 and 57, which reduced certain crimes to misdemeanors and reduced the number of inmates in state prisons, led to Davis’ early release.
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Read the study (Mobile users are going here)
“These politicians have blood on their hands, a lot of blood, and even my sister’s blood,” he told Fox News Digital. “They are doing this by pushing their social justice agenda. They are trying to victimize criminals and are ignoring the real victims, those who suffer at the hands of criminals, innocent people like my sister.”
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office currently has Davis in custody awaiting trial on more than half a dozen felony charges, including the attack on Tibbitts. This time, he is being held without bail and his next court date is March 10.
Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig explains the findings of a study examining the effects of bail policies on recidivism. (Fox Digital News)
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Tibbitts has openly opposed legislative efforts to make California’s coronavirus-era zero bail policy permanent.
“The bail process puts a bail bondsman watching the defendant’s actions and making sure they don’t get into more trouble and show up for subsequent court appearances,” he told Fox News Digital. “The person who killed my sister, when he was released earlier without bail, did not appear at his next court appearance and therefore had a warrant for his arrest at the time he killed my sister.”
