NCJ Number
83723
Date Published
1982
Length
189 pages
Annotation
A study of the characteristics and criminal justice processing of 106,220 adult felony arrests which were disposed of in New York in 1979, the report covers system processing outcomes, the nature of arrest offenses, and arrestees' characteristics. These data are compared for (1) New York City (NYC), (2) the six largest counties outside of New York City, and (3) the remaining counties of the State.
Abstract
In all regions, most felony arrests were ultimately disposed of in court, particularly the lower criminal courts. Overall, almost 6 out of 10 felony arrests resulted in a conviction. Most convictions were obtained by plea rather than by trial, and acquittals were rare. NYC processed more cases than the other regions and obtained proportionately more convictions by plea. Convictions rates in NYC were lower than in the rest of the State, but incarceration rates were higher. Probation was less likely to be used in NYC, and conditional discharge was the most common form of nonincarcerative sentence in the city's lower courts. In all regions, almost half of the felony arrests were for property crimes, with an additional one-third for crimes against persons. Felony arrests in NYC were more likely to involve multiple charges, to be for personal or drug crimes, and were more serious than the arrest events from the other two regions. Most offenders in all regions were males under age 25. NYC offenders were older, more likely to be nonwhite, and to have a record of prior arrests and convictions than other offenders. These data demonstrate that the justice system deals with a unique clientele and processes its cases differently than the various noncity jurisdictions. Tables, figures, footnotes, and sample forms are included.