Being named safest county in U.S. comes with a warning

The topic of crime is one that continuously boxes most members of the Democratic Party into a corner. On one hand, they’re often quick to demonize the law enforcement community, even going so far as to call for defunding the police, as we saw following the George Floyd incident in 2020.

On the other hand, they are often quick to cite any statistics that show a decline in crime, even when the numbers they attach to are questionable.

The most recent example of this was a correction issued by the FBI that indicated that violent crime across the nation has increased by 4.5 percent since 2022, rather than dropping 2.1 percent, as was previously reported. The newest statistical data showed thousands more murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults. Even more frightening is the fact that the data, which amounts to a swing of over 6 percentage points, did not include reported crimes from some of the most violent police precincts, including those in New York City and Los Angeles.

This latest news from the FBI is conveniently being ignored by much of the mainstream media, since it would likely negatively impact a significant number of Democratic candidates running in the upcoming elections who were busy touting the original figures and now remain completely silent about the corrected numbers or are even brazenly questioning them. The most egregious example of this was when former President Donald Trump was erroneously fact-checked by ABC’s David Muir in the recent presidential debate following Trump’s comment that violent crime was on the rise and despite an agreement that fact-checking would not come into play during the debate. We now know that Muir’s challenge to Trump, that violent crime has decreased for several years in a row, was false, based on the new statistics that Trump alluded to.

Here in Nassau County, we are fortunate to have a Police Department that is second to none, led by our outstanding commissioner, Patrick Ryder, who is supported by our tough district attorney, Anne Donnelly, who uses everything at her disposal to enforce the laws to punish those who break them. Thanks to their commitment, the county has consistently ranked as one of the safest communities in the nation, and was recently named the safest overall by U.S. News & World Report.

Despite that, outside factors such as New York state’s senseless bail reform law, the influx of gang members among the millions of illegal immigrants crossing the border, an increased level of credible threats from ISIS and other terror organizations, war protests and a significant rise in school threats has made the NCPD’s and Donnelly’s jobs — along with those of all the men and women in blue that ably serve our residents and businesses — more challenging than ever. That stark reality was hammered home by Ryder during a recent county budget hearing, when he testified before the Legislature’s Public Safety Committee and discussed these issues, and the funding needed to continue to protect the safety and security of our communities.

As a legislator, I have been and always will be committed to supporting efforts to fight crime and provide law enforcement with all the necessary resources to protect our residents. To that end, I was proud to support the recent Mask Transparency Act, which was passed unanimously by the Republican majority and signed into law by County Executive Bruce Blakeman. That law has already produced positive results, and was recently upheld by the courts from a challenge seeking to end the county’s ban on the wearing of face masks in public.

I will also continue advocating to abolish the twisted cashless bail law passed by the progressive leadership in Albany in 2020. That law, which protects criminals rather than their victims, makes no sense and must be repealed.

It’s great news that Nassau County is ranked the safest county in the country, but there’s no such thing as being too safe. Imagine how much better it would be if we eliminated cashless bail while giving law enforcement officers the tools and support they deserve to rigorously enforce and prosecute crimes that continue to threaten our quality of life.

Bill Gaylor represents Nassau County’s 14th Legislative District.