Criminal justice officials and researchers analyzing arrest data have identified a small group of repeat criminal defendants who, if properly monitored and supported with social services, may present an opportunity to reduce street crime in New York City.

The group represents a small portion of all of those charged with crimes over the last two years, but they stand out because they’re repeatedly arrested in short periods of time while also failing at high rates to show up to their court hearings. They also appear to be responsible for a disproportionately large percentage of alleged crimes. The debate over changing bail laws, which dominates the state legislature and has delayed approval of the state budget, is now turning to what should be done about these alleged recidivists.

Researchers and some city officials say providing them with comprehensive mental health, housing, and drug rehabilitation services could stop some of them from cycling through a clogged criminal justice system, and even improve public safety. Others, like Gov. Kathy Hochul, say judges should be granted extra discretion to impose bail on that group.

“It’s time to have a new debate,” said Aubrey Fox, executive director of the nonprofit New York City Criminal Justice Agency, which oversees Supervised Release programs for people charged with crimes. “Let’s stop solely focusing on whether bail reform is good or bad, and let’s be honest about the challenges we face. The current system is working well for most, but we need better ways of addressing this small group of people who are coming through the system repeatedly.”

A data dashboard published today by Fox’s nonprofit and shared in advance with Gothamist allows users to zero in on the repeat offenders who researchers say may be responsible for many crimes in the city. The dashboard shows how many people are arrested, and how often, each year. Of the more than 92,000 people arrested last year, it shows that 2,505 were arrested five or more times. Notably, the most serious charges that most people in that group faced were misdemeanors and non-violent felonies, which further indicates a population of people who might be helped with more robust social services rather than incarceration, researchers said.

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