GOP'S Saritha Komatireddy on NY AG race, public safety & bail reform

Two candidates are vying for the position of New York State Attorney General. That's right. Incumbent State Attorney General Letitia James and Republican challenger Surita Kumari faced off in a debate earlier this month. A lot of people talking about that one, tackling public safety, crime, Medicaid fraud, and a lot more. Joining us this morning, Surita Kumari. Thank you so much for being here this morning. Good morning. It's great to be here. So, born in Brooklyn, raised in Manhattan, Born in Brooklyn, living in Manhattan. Born in Brooklyn, living in Manhattan. You know, my parents came to New York in the 1980s. They're immigrants from India, and they just were so overwhelmed to have the opportunity to be here in this country. It taught us the same values that many of our families teach us. Study hard, work hard, give back to your community. So that's what I did. I went to Harvard for college and law school. I came back to New York and served as a federal prosecutor in Brooklyn for 12 years. Was there something about what you were seeing in Manhattan, what you were seeing in the city that made you want to run for attorney general? Well, public safety has really deteriorated. I saw that professionally in the federal prosecutor's office. We saw a pattern of repeat offenders coming in to our office because the police would say, well, we take this to the state and they're not prosecuting crime anymore. And so then we would make federal cases out of it. I saw it in my personal life. We had a member of my family assaulted in the subway, taking my kids to school. I had a family friend who had a stray bullet come through her bedroom while she was sleeping. These things are affecting everyday New Yorkers, and it's why New Yorkers feel less safe now than five years ago. What would you do differently than Letitia James right now? I would make the overriding priority of the Attorney General's office public safety, and I'd use the powers and resources of that office to fight crime, to lock up repeat offenders, to provide residential treatment for the homeless. You know, we've got to bring people who are sick or who are severely mentally ill inside, off the streets. And I would root out fraud both inside and outside the government so we can take money away from criminals and put it back in the pockets of taxpayers. So today, one of the men who was arrested by ICE is sitting in Brooklyn jail. And the New York Times did a big story on his background and criminal record. and now I guess a judge is going to decide whether he should have been out on the streets or not out on the streets. I know you're not prosecuting this case. How would you handle this case? What do you think is the problem here? Well, I think you really have to focus on making sure we reduce crime. And if you're serious about that, I think New Yorkers want two things and we can accomplish both. One, we want to make sure there are not violent criminals in our communities. We also want to make sure that federal authorities are not in our communities unnecessarily you know we can do that and i used to do that when i was working as a federal prosecutor under president obama we would make sure that if the nypd had custody of a violent criminal and that person was being released they would be handed over at the jailhouse door to federal authorities that meant the criminal didn't go back on the streets it also meant we didn't have the feds on our streets there was no need for that we have bail reform now and so that's what's happening well we have two things bail reform is the reason that they're getting out from NYPD custody in the first place. That's true. But the other reason that they're not just being handed over to federal authorities when they're here illegally is because Tish James put a stop to that. She said, you have to release these people back onto the streets. The NYPD is no longer allowed to make that phone call to federal authorities to say, we have a violent criminal. He's here illegally. We'd like to hand you over. And this is what's happening. This issue has been so politicized. We've lost sight of public safety. And what I want to do is take the politics out of it. This is not about being Republican or Democrat. This is not about taking out some partisan position. This is about just doing the things that are practical to make New York safer. Talk about President Trump just for a minute, because he's an overriding figure out so much politics, especially here in New York. He has endorsed you. And Letitia James has said that that may have a bias at some point over the course of the next couple of years, should you be elected. if you were elected, would you investigate the president if something came up? Listen, I'll investigate anyone who's committed a crime. I served in every administration over the last 12 years under President Obama, under President Obama, and under the current administration. I actually served as chief of staff of the DEA under Joe Biden. So the New York attorney general's office is totally independent. It's an office that answers only to New Yorkers. And the job is to protect New Yorkers from criminals and from anyone who might violate their rights you know i would note also i welcome the endorsement of people across the political aisle i've also received the endorsement of ray kelly new york's longest serving police commissioner he was police commissioner under mayor bloomberg and mayor dinkins and he's a prominent democrat and we we are seeing a surge of support from democrats independents and republicans you got some great news from the sienna poll they did a uh a poll i think it was released yesterday where uh obviously the gap is tightening between you and Letitia James. How do you keep that momentum going? By the way, we did invite Letitia James to come here. We're waiting to hear if she has time before Election Day. We have seen overwhelming support after our debate two weeks ago. I have had New Yorkers reaching out to me from all backgrounds, from all partisan persuasions. And I really encourage New Yorkers who haven't done so to just watch the debate, because you'll see for yourself in a very fair environment. You're two candidates for attorney general. What I offer is something that's not partisan. I'm just a law enforcement professional looking to make New York safer for my four kids, for my family and for all of our families. And just that the poll that was closer, that was more of an internal poll. Is that right? As opposed to some of the other ones that are that are out there? We did do some internal polling. We don't comment on our internal polling. But yes, you're right that the New York Post reported on it yesterday. Just if we can, just before we wrap up, just to push back a little bit, the crime numbers that you're mentioning, the NYPD will say that the crime in the city is at historic lows. Is there anything in particular that you're looking at that you think that these numbers are not the way that they're being portrayed by the city hall? Well, murders and shootings are down, and that's a good thing. But everything else that people experience is up since 2019. And you can look at the data yourself on the state website. Felony assaults in the subways have doubled since Tish James came into office. They're up 94%. And she's one of the reasons for that. When she came into office, she launched an investigation into the police enforcing the transit laws instead of launching any investigations into the criminals who are in our subways. When she was confronted about that at the debate, she called it progress. I call it failure. These rises in crime, car thefts have tripled in New York City. they've doubled across the state. Hate crimes have surged. They've doubled. Anti-Semitic hate crimes have tripled. Every other category of crime that affects New Yorkers' day-to-day lives and also affects their pocketbook, they've gone up. We'll have to leave it there. Sarita Kamareddy, thank you so much for coming on Good Day New York. As we mentioned, we did invite Attorney General Letitia James. She has not responded to our interview request. I saw her the Al Smith dinner along with you the other night and we'll see if she can find some time before the election day thank you very much thank you very much