NCJ Number
78211
Date Published
1981
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This report examines the record rates of violence currently experienced in New York City, especially in the numbers of murders and robberies, and suggest ways to improve the criminal justice system's response to the problem.
Abstract
The 1980 crime figures for New York City are the worst in its history. New York set a record for total major crimes, including such categories as murder, robbery, and burglary. While increases in such crimes are part of a national trend, New York was 60-percent ahead of the national average for the first 6 months of 1980. In that period, the city's murder rate was 13th among the 25 most populous U.S. cities and first in the rate of robbery per 100,000 population. Projections estimate that in the 1980's at least 10,000 people will be gun murder victims, 5 times as many as in the 1960's. Although New York City law provides for sentences of up to 7 years for felonious possession of handguns, that law has not been enforced, and few convicted of illegal possession have been incarcerated. In addition to strict enforcement of the gun law, comprehensive anticrime programs are needed. Three major areas for reform of the criminal justice system have been identified: expansion and improvement of city and State correctional facilities, guidelines for criminal sentencing, and concentration of the resources of the criminal justice system on the most dangerous offenders. Explanatory footnotes accompany the text, along with two charts and one table. A list of 27 references is appended.