In response to the killing of police officer Randolph Holder, Mayor Bill de Blasio wants to change the way judges determine how bail is set. NY1's Courtney Gross filed the following report.

Tyrone Howard had a long rap sheet. He had five felony convictions for selling drugs. Four other times, he was convicted of drug possession.

As Mayor Bill de Blasio describes it: a career criminal.

"I don't know how anyone could see anything but a clear pattern of criminal activity," the mayor said.

Despite his lengthy criminal record, Howard was was released on $35,000 bail earlier this year. And he was back on the street, slated to participate in a drug diversion program instead of time behind bars. Free to allegedly shoot police officer Randolph Holder Tuesday night.

The mayor argues that if state law allowed judges to consider a defendant's "dangerousness," then that may have never happened.

"He would not have continued to poison the community around him by selling drugs. He would not have been roaming East Harlem on Tuesday," de Blasio said. "One of NYPD's good, decent, hardworking cops would still be alive today."

So de Blasio says change state law to give judges more leeway. Right now, a judge can only consider whether a defendant is a flight risk when determining what bail should be set. De Blasio says a person's criminal history and whether he or she is a danger to the public should also be part of that decision.

"Imagine you are a judge and you are not allowed to consider the dangerousness of the person before you. That makes no sense," de Blasio said.

New York is only one of three states to not include this factor. Some want it to stay that way, questioning whether this might empower judges to keep people behind bars without just cause.

"The fear is that judges will use a dangerousness to the community element to lock more people up," said Joshua Norkin of the Legal Aid Society. "And it just certainly, it just seems like the wrong direction to move in."

Mayor Bill de Blasio says he has just started conversations with state lawmakers in Albany. Other officials here at City Hall on Friday are urging the state legislature to act quickly.

Governor Andrew Cuomo's office did not comment on the proposal.