(Bloomberg) -- New York state’s bail-reduction efforts haven’t led to more rearrests, so any proposals to roll back those reforms should be rejected, according to a report released Tuesday from New York City Comptroller Brad Lander.

The 2019 law, which took effect in 2020, eliminated cash bail and mandated release for most misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies in the state, such as shoplifting. Last year, 14,545 people were subject to bail, down 41% from 2019, according to Lander’s report.

Despite that drop, 96% of people who were allowed to return to the community while awaiting trial were not rearrested in December 2021, the same percentage as January 2020 and up slightly from 95% in January 2019.

“In a moment of real anxiety about public safety, the conversation on bail reform has become divorced from the data, which shows essentially no change in the share of people rearrested while released pretrial before and after the implementation of the 2019 bail reforms,” Lander said in a statement. “We should follow the facts rather than fear, and reject reactive efforts to roll back reforms that threaten the progress we have made towards more equal justice.”

The report comes as Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams have asked state lawmakers to roll back the 2019 law amid rising crime. Lander disagrees, arguing that lawmakers should instead take steps to ensure onerous bail conditions are not being set and that there are adequate alternatives to pretrial incarceration.

Read more: How Bail Reform, Crime Surge Mix in an Angry Debate: QuickTake

Since the reform measure, bail amounts have risen to an average of $38,866 in 2021 from $19,162 in 2019. Defendants and their families spent $268 million on bail in 2021, up from $186 million in 2020, the report said. 

This disproportionately harms poor New Yorkers who are accused of crimes, as they face jail time ahead of their day in court because they cannot afford to pay for their release, according to Lander. It’s especially dire given the conditions on Rikers Island, the city’s main jail complex, where a federal monitor has repeatedly raised alarms about appalling conditions that include widespread staffing shortages and violence. 

Three people have died at Rikers this year, and 16 died at the jail complex last year. 

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