De Blasio giving freed NYC inmates MetroCards and gift cards


Mayor Bill de Blasio’s latest soft-on-crime initiative has workers stationed on Rikers Island presenting newly released jailbirds with free transit passes and two $25 debit cards each, The Post has learned.
Plans even call for the addition of prepaid, “burner”-style cellphones and drawstring bags for the ex-inmates to carry their swag, a source familiar with the program said.
The “crime pays” giveaways build on another de Blasio policy that showers freebies including Mets tickets on prisoners being released under the state’s new bail-reform law.
Those goodies are intended to serve as incentives so the defendants return to court as ordered....
The city is spending $500,000 on items that will also include winter coats. It will also distribute footwear donated by the Steven Madden shoe company, according to the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, which is overseeing the program.

But a law enforcement source said the program showed “how society is swinging.”

“2020 is going to be the year of the perp,” the source said.
https://nypost.com/2019/12/27/de-bla...nd-gift-cards/