Alvin Bragg clarified — and in some cases reversed — his earlier guidance on prosecuting gun possession and other crimes.
The Manhattan district attorney on Friday issued harsher new guidance on the prosecution of gun possession and robbery that revised and in some cases reversed policies in a memo, released in his first week in office, that had been criticized as too lenient.
Within days of taking office on Jan. 1, the district attorney, Alvin Bragg, instructed prosecutors in the memo to avoid seeking jail time for all but the most serious crimes. Its release prompted weeks of pushback from police officers, business owners and public officials and marred the first month of his tenure.
Much of his time since has been devoted to clarifying and modifying the policies outlined in the document, which he has acknowledged was confusing and legalistic.
The memo had instructed prosecutors to avoid seeking jail time for certain crimes including robberies, assaults and gun possession. Mr. Bragg has said in several public appearances that the impact of the changes outlined in the memo had been overstated and misunderstood.
On Friday, in an email to his staff, Mr. Bragg said that the document had been “a source of confusion, rather than clarity,” and emphasized that it was up to the office’s prosecutors to determine how best to handle individual cases.
“You were hired for your keen judgment, and I want you to use that judgment — and experience — in every case,” he said.
In the update, Mr. Bragg emphasized other key points that he has made in recent public appearances, which either clarify or reverse the policies in the memo:
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He said that commercial robberies that involved the use of guns — or even convincing-looking fake guns — would be charged as felonies, as would robberies committed with other weapons that carried a risk of physical harm. Initially, Mr. Bragg had said he would only charge such robberies as felonies if a defendant had created “a genuine risk of physical harm.”
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He said that gun possession would be taken seriously and that those “walking the streets with guns” would be prosecuted and held accountable. “The default in gun cases is a felony prosecution,” he said. Previously, gun possession had not been among the crimes Mr. Bragg said he would seek incarceration for.
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He reiterated that violence against police officers would not be tolerated and that anyone who harmed an officer, or tried to, would be prosecuted — a clarification to his earlier announcement that he would not prosecute the standalone charge of resisting arrest.
Finally, Mr. Bragg insisted that his office was not bound by the original memo and that it was his prosecutors’ prerogative to determine the course of individual cases.
The release of the updates on Friday represented a completion of the pivot that Mr. Bragg has made since the backlash began.
Mr. Bragg, a former federal prosecutor, campaigned on the need to balance public safety and fairness. But after a month in which episodes of gun violence have shaken New York City, his focus has shifted primarily to public safety.
A draft of the memo — often called the Day One Memo, though it was released several days into Mr. Bragg’s tenure — was first made public in April.
It was, in effect, a campaign promise, issued when Mr. Bragg was in the thick of the Democratic primary, running against seven opponents, many of whom were running on more lenient policies. The release of the draft coincided with news that Mr. Bragg had won key endorsements from two important progressives, Zephyr Teachout and Janos Marton.
Mr. Bragg pledged then that he would put the memo into practice on his first day on the job. But it was not until he actually implemented the changes that it became clear just how unpopular the document would be. It caused an uproar within the office, where some assistant district attorneys who were not authorized to speak publicly said they had trouble determining what it would mean for their cases in progress.
It caused significant concern outside his office, particularly among two politically influential factions. Police officers expressed alarm over Mr. Bragg’s guidance on charges of resisting arrest, even though the policy will affect a very small number of cases. And small business owners worried that his intention to charge many robberies as misdemeanors would endanger their employees and leave them vulnerable to repeat offenders.
New York’s police commissioner, Keechant Sewell, criticized the policies the week they were released, saying that they could endanger police officers and the public. She and Mr. Bragg met the following week and issued a joint statement afterward calling the meeting productive.
But Mr. Bragg took another political blow after the fatal shooting of two police officers in Harlem last month. Though his policies would not have affected how the shooting was handled, Dominique Luzuriaga, the widow of one of the officers who were killed, mentioned the district attorney explicitly while eulogizing her husband.
“I know you were tired of these laws,” she said, addressing her husband, Officer Jason Rivera, directly. “Especially the ones from the new D.A. I hope he’s watching you speak through me right now.”
Last week, Mr. Bragg met with Gov. Kathy Hochul, some of whose political opponents have called for the district attorney’s removal. Ms. Hochul said that the conversation had been constructive. “Certainly he needs to do his job, and he’s doing it right now,” she said.
