Miami GOP Mayor: ‘No Cash Bail Is Creating Lawlessness’ In U.S. Cities

Francis Suarez, Miami Republican Mayor said Sunday that rising crime is being caused by the absence of cash bail policies across the country.

On a panel of mayors from major cities appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday Suarez was also President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He stated that bail reform had created new opportunities. “lawlessness.” He claimed that criminals are being punished too lightly has lead to an increase in crimes like petty crime and harm to the economy.

“What I’m focusing on is that the no cash bail is creating lawlessness in a lot of our cities,” said Suarez. “What’s happening is, for example, people get out right away, they’re not even, you know, they don’t even have to post bail. So they’re able to get out right away. And so we’re seeing someone go into like a CVS, for example, and take thousands of dollars worth of merchandise, which is causing a CVSs to close, which hurts the, you know, the rest of the city, but that’s not particularly related to, to the gun violence issue. It’s related more to petty crime, which is creating lawlessness in some of our cities.”

Suarez also spoke out about his policies regarding Miami’s police. “We are funding our police,” He said. “A lot of cities cut into the defunding police movement. And we’re seeing [police funding] as a bipartisan issue.”

Last week, some Houston bar and restaurant owners started sleeping in their places of business to deter criminals, citing the city’s lax bail policies.

“I have been burglarized 15 times in the last year,” Lindsey Rae was the owner of Two-Headed Dog. This information was obtained via the New York Post. “We’re seeing, if they are getting caught, they’re getting re-released because of the cash bond issues we’re having,” She added. “They can come back and rob us again.”

A 2021 investigation from ABC affiliate KTRK found that Houston’s bail policies had allowed more criminals back onto the streets. According to the outlet, only 3.5% of Harris County court cases resulted in defendants being released on felony bonds in 2011. In 2021, however, defendants were released in 18.8% cases, almost six times more often.

In addition, the probe revealed that criminals are more likely to commit crime while being held on bail. Only 3.5% of cases in 2011 involved defendants who were already on at least one felony bond. In 2021, this number rose to 19%. 968 of those cases involved accused felons who allegedly committed at least four new crimes after being released on bond. The outlet discovered that one of the suspects was currently held on 13 separate bonds.