NCJ Number
85727
Date Published
1981
Length
26 pages
Annotation
The low rate of survivorship of felony arrests through indictment in New York City was found to be related primarily to prosecutorial decisions shaped by overall resource constraints.
Abstract
In 1980, almost 80 percent of all felony arrests in New York City ultimately deteriorated to misdemeanors or violations, failed through dismissals, or were declined prosecution. In response to this situation, the New York City Police Department mounted a pilot project in New York County that tracked and analyzed the processing of nonnarcotic felony arrest cases brought to the District Attorney from May 18, 1981, through July 22, 1981 (n=3,000). In each case, police counsel interviewed the arresting officer, made an assessment of the evidence, conferred with the prosecutor, and made notes on the reasons given by the prosecutor for charging and disposition decisions. Independent assessments of legal sufficiency were made in each case by police counsel. Poor arrest quality or broad-scale incompetency was not found to be a significant reason for so few felony arrests proceeding unchanged through indictment. Most charge reduction decisions were made by the prosecutor because of resource restraints which require the prosecutor to determine which and how many felony cases to pursue through indictment. Even in the small number of cases found legally defective as felonies by the prosecutor, more than 80 percent of these resulted in a misdemeanor complaint being prepared. From either the prosecutor or police perspective, only a small percent of the felony arrests should have been voided by booking personnel.