February 7,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Only one GOP candidate for Governor is going on record against New Jersey’s bail reform woes, and that is Joseph Rullo who lives in Little Egg Harbor the eye of the storm.
The subject was highlighted after a two-time child sexual predator was released back into the small southern Ocean County community of Little Egg Harbor to the dismay of the local police chief and Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato.
Rullo told the Ridgewood blog that bail reform has many problems. Intended originally to allow low-income offenders out of jail for minor offenses, it has become a golden ticket or “get out of Jail free card “,for some of New Jersey’s most hardened criminals.
Rullo insisted that New Jersey should not be releasing violent offenders back into the community without supervision. He added that the state raised taxes to pay for the $500 million cost of the reform.
Rullo said. “needless paperwork, rather than being on patrol, adds to overtime for police, and added expense to the municipalities.”
Rullo went on the biggest issue with bail reform from his standpoint, beyond the inherent public safety concerns is that now the public will have to pay for those who fail to return to court to be located and relocated. Prior to bail reform, the job of finding those who skipped bail was left up to private bail bondsmen at no cost to the public.
According to Rullo, the municipalities will bear the cost of finding and returning those who skipped their court hearing, putting police departments in the unnecessary position, risking resources and officers in an effort to bring those people back to justice for a second time, sometimes three and four times.