NCJ Number
205517
Date Published
February 2002
Length
40 pages
Annotation
This report highlights the major findings of a study that compared case and defendant characteristics, court processing, and case outcomes for prosecuted nonfelony arrests of defendants held for criminal court arraignment in New York City in 1989 and 1998.
Abstract
This study was occasioned by a change in New York City's policing strategy, beginning in the mid-1990's, that emphasized the use of police power to enforce laws that pertained to conduct viewed as harming the community's quality of life. Many of the resulting arrests were for behaviors statutorily defined in the New York State Penal Law or in city ordinances as misdemeanors or lesser-severity offenses. This research shows that there were substantial differences in the volume of nonfelony, non-VTL (vehicle and traffic laws), summary-arrest cases prosecuted in New York City's criminal courts in 1998 compared with 1989. There were also substantial differences in the attributes of defendants, in the mix of nonfelony cases by crime category of the top arrest charge, and even the nature of the charges in some categories. In addition, changes in the proportional volume and mix of cases were not uniformly distributed among the boroughs. The court system adapted to these changes in various ways, including by disposing in 1998 a far greater number and percentage of cases at, rather than subsequent to, the criminal court arraignment appearance. In both time periods virtually all convictions were by guilty plea. There is evidence that recent changes in enforcement practices have resulted in increasing numbers of recidivist defendants in misdemeanor cases. The report concludes that New York City has had success in reclaiming public spaces from nuisance and disorderly behaviors by the strict enforcement of various civil laws; however, under this strategy a greater percentage and number of defendants in nonfelony cases had no prior adult convictions, and disproportionate numbers of late-adolescent youths became part of the offender population in 1998 compared to 1989. Further, among the disorderly and derelict defendants arrested for minor offenses were an older population with many social problems, including chemical addictions, mental and physical health problems, homelessness, low educational achievement, and limited employment opportunities. This not only raises management and resource issues for the court system, but also poses the fundamental policy issue of whether the criminal courts can and should become responsible for solving the social problems often presented by offenders and offenses being brought into the courts through statutory and police policy changes. 20 tables