Torrey Smith, Chris Long and Malcolm Jenkins

Opinion contributors

Last year, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner stopped seeking cash bail for a variety of nonviolent charges, including drug possession and prostitution. Altogether, there were 25 charges for which cash bail was eliminated, and they amounted to 61 percent of the number of cases brought in Philadelphia in 2018.

A report out this month shows that Krasner’s reforms worked. In fact, his plan shines as a model for cities across the nation to follow.

Under the plan, an additional 1,750 Philadelphians were released without bail last year, and there was no increase in crime among those released before trial. Instead, those people were home working, spending time with their children, and doing the things that keep people away from an unforgiving system.

While opponents of reform often claim that cash bail helps reduce crime, Philadelphia Police Department data prove the opposite. Since Krasner enacted reforms, there was a 5 percent decrease in violent crime. In addition, crime, overall, did not increase.

Not only are the city’s communities just as safe, but taxpayers also have saved considerably on unnecessary pretrial incarceration — savings that will produce dividends because people who keep their jobs and family ties are less likely to commit offenses.

The reality is, cash bail destroys lives — especially among black and brown communities. As members of the Players Coalition, we’ve seen this up close. We observed bail hearings at Philadelphia’s Criminal Justice Center, and in those brief moments — the hearings often lasted no more than two or three minutes — we saw people’s lives change forever.

When someone receives an unaffordable bail, kids are devastated that their mom or dad can’t come home. Folks trying to provide for their families may lose their job because they miss too many shifts. Others may lose their apartment because they can’t pay rent from behind bars. Those coping with chronic medical conditions or mental illnesses lose access to critical medicines and care.

When our government jails people for being poor, it does tremendous damage to them, their family members, their friends and their communities. And being in jail can be life-threatening.

According to the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than a third of jail deaths occur within a week of incarceration, and three-quarters occur among people held pretrial.

Some elected officials are starting to recognize just how destructive cash bail is.

Washington, D.C., does not use money bail. California and New Jersey have moved to end cash bail via legislation. But many states refuse to eliminate the practice — scared into submission by the bail bond lobby that places profits above investments in people.

But a growing group of reform-minded prosecutors are stepping up to make our justice system fairer by directing their offices to stop requiring cash bail for certain offenses, refusing to be complicit in a system that makes us less safe.

Every other prosecutor in the country should work feverishly to implement bail reform in the communities they serve. Krasner has offered a starting point for successful bail reform that can, and should, be replicated, and even expanded, across the country (we look forward to Krasner expanding bail reform in Philadelphia by eliminating cash bail for more charges). There is no excuse to maintain a system based on money, not safety.

Each day a prosecutor delays rolling out bail reform in his jurisdiction is another day a person who can’t afford bail languishes in a jail cell un-convicted of a crime. It is another day where bail bond companies make money off of the poor. The time is now to put an end to this injustice.

We applaud Krasner for his important first step.

Malcolm Jenkins is a safety for the Philadelphia Eagles and is co-founder of the Players Coalition.

Chris Long is a defensive end for the Philadelphia Eagles, and Torrey Smith is a wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers. Both are Players Coalition members.