“I’m a progressive person. I’m a humanitarian. But I can also tell you some people are irredeemable, and unless they are treated very, very differently, they pose a danger to our society.”

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio offered these ominous words after the October 20 shooting death of NYPD officer Randolph Holder, and the swift arrest and arraignment of suspect Tyrone Howard.

In recent months, de Blasio and NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton have touted reforms to bail requirements and the expansion of public health care services as their progressive response to excessive court delays, overcrowding, and rampant abuse at New York’s Rikers Island jail complex.