MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG OUTLINES
PUBLIC SAFETY AND QUALITY OF LIFE ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN 2002

City Drives Crime Lower and Quality of Life Higher
Despite Budget Cuts and Threat of Terrorism

During the first year of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's administration, New York has built on its reputation as the safest large City in the United States in 2002. Over the course of the past year, the crime rate has decreased steadily despite increasing nationally; the City's quality of life has improved thanks to new initiatives designed to combat excessive noise and graffiti; New York City has enhanced its counter-terrorism capabilities dramatically in the wake of September 11th; and the City has used new technology and innovations to improve everything from pedestrian and driver safety and to our efforts against domestic violence. New York City has experienced a tremendously successful year in providing safety and security to its citizens while the fiscal crisis required each agency to cut its budget significantly.

"We have defied the national trend and made New York City even safer even as we have cut our budget and devoted comprehensive resources to counter-terrorism programs," Mayor Bloomberg said. "In 2002, we have made our public safety agencies more efficient and gotten better results while spending less money. Not only have we done more with less, we have done quite well with less. This shows that one should judge government and the quality of services by the results, not the amounts we spend. Every agency has implemented innovations and new uses of technology to better serve the public and improve our quality of life."

I. Reducing Crime to Historic Lows

In 2002, the Police Department has driven the crime rate down to its lowest level since 1963. Total crime in the City has declined 6% this year to date. Homicides are leading the reductions, down by over 12%. Felony assaults and auto thefts have also experienced double-digit drops. The NYPD has reduced the rates for robbery, burglary, and grand larceny, but the number of rapes has increased slightly. The City's success in combating crime is especially impressive given the increase in crime nationwide. According to the FBI statistics just released for the first half of 2002, crimes increased nationwide in the following cities at the following rates: Boston (2.6 %), San Diego (2.9%), Los Angeles (3.3%), Fort Worth (10.2%), Houston (10.6%), Denver (15.8%), and Indianapolis (16.0%). The NYPD's performance is even more compelling when taking into account that headcount has declined by 2,000 over the past year.

Anti-Gun Initiatives: In order to prevent spikes in the number of shootings from escalating into trends, the NYPD has launched several anti-gun initiatives. The NYPD has expanded its Firearms Investigations Unit, created the Bronx Gun Investigation Unit, engaged in a new initiative with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to bring more federal gun cases, and begun tracing illegal firearms to source states to identify the traffickers for federal prosecution. Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Kelly have also called on the public to assist in the City's anti-gun initiatives. In 2002, the City initiated Operation Gun Stop, which generated 605 tips that led to 273 arrests and the seizure of 193 guns, and Operation Cash for Guns, through which the NYPD captured 1,787 guns. These operations and strategies have prevented an increase in shootings, which had risen by 25% earlier in the year. In addition, gun arrests have increased by 27% in 2002.

Operation Spotlight: In 2002, the City launched Operation Spotlight to focus the attention of the criminal justice system on the repeated transgressions of chronic misdemeanants. Specialized courts have been established in all five boroughs solely to hear Operation Spotlight cases. The initiative has also expedited the processing of narcotics laboratory reports, fast-tracked probation and parole revocations, and increased trial capacity and direct links to services for drug-addicted and mentally ill defendants. Early results from the program have been very positive. Compared to a similar group of defendants arrested between 2000 and 2001, the percentage of Operation Spotlight defendants detained on bail after arraignment has jumped from 61% to 74%. The percentage of defendants receiving jail sentences has also increased dramatically, from 45% to 65%. Finally, violation proceedings have been initiated against all Operation Spotlight defendants who were on probation at the time of their arrest.

II. Increasing the Safety of the Public at Large

Improved Response Time to Fires and Fewer Fire-Related Fatalities: The Fire Department's response time to fires has decreased by 3 seconds in 2002, falling to 4:13 from 4:16 in 2001. In addition, the total number of civilian fire fatalities is currently at 86. If the trend continues, the City may have the fewest number of deaths due to fire since 1921, when there were 99. Structural fires are down 5% and non-structural fires are down 16%. In addition, the FDNY has continued to rebuild its ranks by hiring 908 new firefighters. Like the Police Department, the Fire Department's achievements are even more noteworthy since Commissioner Scoppetta has cut the budget by over $98 million this fiscal year.

Traffic Safety: The Department of Transportation (DOT) has launched several initiatives to improve safety at dangerous intersections and corridors in each of the five boroughs. These sites include Fordham Road/Kingsbridge Road/Bainbridge Avenue in the Bronx, Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, Upper Park Avenue in Manhattan, the Cooper Avenue Underpass in Queens, and Page Avenue/Academy Place in Staten Island. In addition, DOT has instituted split phasing at midtown Manhattan intersections and installed dummy red light cameras and new LED traffic signals.

Fewer Pedestrian and Vehicle Deaths: Pedestrian safety has also improved in 2002. Year to date, 180 pedestrians have died in 2002, as compared to 194 in all of 2001. In the five years prior to 2002, an average of eight people died while traveling on Queens Boulevard, but in 2002, only one person has perished on the street. Finally, year to date 355 people have died as a result of traffic accidents compared to 389 deaths in all of 2001.

III. Improving the Quality of Life

Operation Clean Sweep: In January 2002, Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Kelly launched Operation Clean Sweep, a direct and comprehensive quality of life enforcement program designed to respond to reports of an increase in quality of life offenses in the weeks after the September 11th attacks. The program targets quality of life violations reported to precincts and the NYPD's quality of life hotline, aggressively combating low-level offenders. In all, the initiative has generated more than 10,600 arrests and 105,000 summonses throughout the five boroughs.

Operation Silent Night: In October 2002, Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Kelly launched Operation Silent Night to combat excessive noise, targeting 24 high noise neighborhoods throughout the City. Intensive enforcement measures include the use of sound meters, towing of vehicles, seizure of audio equipment, summonses, fines, and arrests. Thus far, Operation Silent Night has resulted in the issuance of 624 noise summonses, 4,109 parking violations, 2,869 moving violations, 2,811 Criminal Court summonses, and 249 DEP noise violations, as well as the seizure of 57 vehicles and numerous pieces of stereo equipment. Operation Silent Night has also proven a very effective crime-fighting tool, yielding 145 felony arrests, 565 misdemeanor arrests, and 46 violation arrests. In addition, community feedback has proven positive. The City is currently in the process of identifying new zones to be targeted for noise control under Operation Silent Night.

Anti-Graffiti Task Force: The Mayor's Anti-Graffiti Task Force has completed 1,100 cleanups in 2002. The Task Force has combated graffiti throughout the five boroughs, including the Grand Concourse, Hunt's Point, Baychester, and Crotona in the Bronx, Borough Park, Bay Ridge, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and Bushwick in Brooklyn, Inwood, Turtle Bay, and Harlem in Manhattan, Astoria, Sunnyside, Woodside in Queens, and New Dorp, Port Richmond, and West Brighton on Staten Island.

IV. Counter-Terrorism

Emergency Preparedness Exercises and Drills: In 2002, the City of New York conducted four interagency and intergovernmental tabletop exercise drills that examined the City's ability to address large-scale emergencies, including the decision-making, interagency coordination, and communication capabilities that would be critical in responding to bio-terrorism. The City also conducted "Operation United Strength," a two-day tabletop exercise drill to help evaluate the City's ability to respond to hypothetical terrorist attacks by exploring leadership roles and communications protocols among City officials. Participants focused on operational, strategic, policy and communications decisions and used the drill to evaluate and improve their responses in the event of a real emergency. Other exercises included: Operation TRIPOD, a drill testing the City's capability of rapidly providing medication to large numbers of New Yorkers in the aftermath of a bio-terrorist attack; Operation Sandbox, a tabletop exercise to address the dispersion of a biological agent in the City; Operation Hurricane Yankee, an exercise dealing with the impact on the City of a powerful coastal storm; and Operation Ready Set, a Citywide drill set at OEM's emergency Operation Center to determine the unified response by all City agencies and utilities to an unspecified catastrophe in midtown Manhattan. The City is also planning additional tabletop and field drills over the course of next year.

Establishment of Temporary OEM Headquarters: In February 2002, the Office of Emergency Management opened its temporary headquarters, which houses the City's Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in a two-story 40,000 square foot facility in Brooklyn. City, State, Federal, and private agencies and organizations work closely together in the event of a natural, technological, or terrorist emergency in New York City. The facility maintains a back-up power generator, and a weather station and monitoring system. In addition, the new facility maintains a complete Geographic Information System (GIS) Mapping Unit and a 24-hour Watch Command Center. A permanent OEM headquarters is currently being designed and will be funded by FEMA.

NYPD's Extensive Counter- Terrorism Initiatives: In January 2002, the NYPD created the Office of Counter-Terrorism, headed by former United States Marine Lieutenant General Frank Libutti, to direct the Police Department's prevention, training, detection, response, and investigation efforts toward terrorist threats directed at New York City. The NYPD also expanded its Intelligence Division to gather, analyze, and distribute intelligence, enabling the NYPD to conduct its increasingly global law enforcement operations more effectively. The Division has focused on enhancing its language skills and sharing information with federal agencies. In addition, the NYPD has placed detectives in Toronto, Canada, and at Interpol in Lyons, France. The Police Department plans to send detectives to England, Germany, and Israel over the next year. Finally, the NYPD has increased the number of officers assigned to the FBI-Joint Terrorism Taskforce from 17 (prior to the attacks of September 11th) to 120.

Renovating and Expanding Bio-terrorism Facilities: In 2002, the NYPD and the Department of Health (DOH) commenced a major renovation of the City's mobile bio-terrorism laboratory, custom-designed to analyze and identify weapons of mass destruction. The renovated lab facilities are scheduled to re-open in mid-2003. DOH has also created a state-of-the-art syndrome surveillance system to provide early warnings of possible bio-terrorism and has purchased six rapid-testing machines to quickly test for any outbreaks or evidence of disease due to bio-terrorism. DOH also received a $26 million grant from the United States Department of Health and Human Services earlier this year that will greatly enhance the City's ability to respond to a bio-terrorist attack. Since Public health is an integral part of public safety, the Health Department has a state-of-the-art system to monitor for unusual patterns of disease -- either man-made or natural. This system is a national model for detecting and responding to potential bioterrorist attacks, and works 24/7, tracking ambulance, emergency department, and pharmacy
sales data.

Creation of FDNY Terrorism Preparedness Task Force: In September 2002, the FDNY created its Terrorism Preparedness Taskforce to examine and evaluate the agency's terrorism preparedness capabilities. Former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency R. James Woolsey serves as Chief Advisor of the Taskforce, which is comprised of a panel of leading nationally and internationally renowned experts on terrorism.

Medicolegal Investigation Unit: The Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) has trained 20 Medicolegal Investigators (MLIs) to respond to incidents with fatalities from biological, chemical, or radioactive agents. OCME coordinates fatality management with NYPD and FDNY for an improved response to these events. The MLIs have received equipment training from the FDNY and operations training and certification in responding to weapons of mass destruction from the NYS Department of Emergency Services. In coordination with the NYPD, this team has developed a mutual response program in which the Missing Persons, Emergency Services, Crime Scene and Arson and Explosion Units will work closely together.

Watershed Security: The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) moved forward in 2002 with a $70 million comprehensive upgrade of security in the water supply and distribution infrastructure. DEP Police staffing increased 50% over the year, with the Police Division almost doubling in size. The Environmental Police also instituted the first DEP Environmental Police Academy, and added two new divisions to the force: a Detective Division to conduct long-term investigations and an Intelligence Division to work with the NYPD, FBI, EPA, and other agencies to monitor domestic and international terrorist threats to the City's water supply. In 2003, DEP will create several new specialized units to increase surveillance and protection opportunities, including a Special Operations Group, a Scuba Unit, a Canine Unit, and an ATV/Bike Unit.

New York City's efforts to protect the Catskill and Delaware watersheds led to the signing of a 5-year Filtration Avoidance Determination (FAD) by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the City on November 26th. The FAD will enable the City to ensure that its water supply remains clean and healthy, without requiring the City to build a filtration plant costing $5 - $6 billion. This FAD will enable the City to maintain or expand existing watershed protection programs, as well as create new ones to address developing issues in meeting the federal and state environmental standards. These programs include: septic rehabilitation and maintenance, wastewater treatment infrastructure projects, storm water control and retrofitting, land acquisition, and coordination with local farmers. In addition to funds already in place through the 1997 Watershed Memorandum of Agreement, these protection programs will commit approximately $140 million in investment in the watersheds over the next five years. The City has also added over 15,000 new acres to the protected watershed portfolio, bringing its total to over 43,000 acres under the Land Acquisition Program. In 2003, DEP intends to aggressively re-solicit thousands of acres in priority areas of the Catskill and Delaware watersheds.

V. Efficiency and Innovations in Technology

Using Technology and Multi-agency Coordination to Combat Domestic Violence: In October 2002, the NYPD completed work on a new system that digitally records and indexes all calls made to the City's 9-1-1 emergency response system. As a result, clear and accurate recordings of these calls are now retrieved and made available to prosecutors almost immediately. Prior to the implementation of this new technology, 9-1-1 calls were manually retrieved by technicians and provided to prosecutors on cassette tapes, a process that took an average of three months to complete. The Kings County District Attorney is now using the system to strengthen the prosecution of misdemeanor domestic violence cases. Prosecutors may now play victims' 9-1-1 calls for arraignment judges, increasing the likelihood that bail will be set. In some cases, 9-1-1 recordings can even serve as direct evidence, enabling prosecutions to proceed even if the victim refuses to cooperate. From October 22nd through December 4th, the District Attorney's Office accessed and screened 197 digital 9-1-1 recordings prior to arraignment. Approximately one third of those calls were deemed to be of significant evidentiary value and were played in the courtroom to bolster bail applications.

In November 2002, the City also implemented the Domestic Violence Response Teams Pilot Program (DVRT) in two communities sharing the highest rates of domestic abuse recorded in the City, namely East Flatbush in Brooklyn and Soundview in the Bronx. To date, 76% of clients have given their consent to share information with agencies including the NYPD, Safe Horizon, and the District Attorney's Offices in return for assistance in obtaining counseling, housing placement, and other social service benefits, as well as bringing domestic violence victims closer to safety and self-sufficiency. In all, domestic violence murder, rape, and felony assault has decreased by 17.3%.

DNA Technology: During the first three quarters of 2002, OCME's Forensic Biology Laboratory increased the number of Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) profiles 140%, from 1,313 to 3,156 profiles, resulting in a 52% increase in case-to-case matches, a 36% increase in convicted offender matches, and a 61% increase in conviction matches. Turnaround time for DNA work related to sexual assaults averaged 39 days per case - the fastest turnaround time for regular casework in any large public DNA laboratory in the United States. Over the past year, OCME has also electronically archived two years of medical examiner case records forming the basis for an electronic records management system. Finally, OCME has been developing an agency-wide system to electronically generate death certificates. This system will be fully operational on January 1st, when the City adopts the new national death certificate standard.

OCME has successfully continued to respond to the largest, most complex mass fatality incident in the history of the United States, namely the September 11th attacks. The Office restructured operations, created new processes and procedures and coordinated efforts with other agencies, jurisdictions, and over 80 countries. As of this date, 52% (1,443) of the victims reported missing have been identified, and OCME anticipates that the introduction of new DNA technology will push the figure to 72% (2,000) of the victims. OCME has also utilized DNA technology to link remains of the victims of Flight 587. The victims' families have claimed more than half of the remains and OCME is meeting with the families to decide upon a final resting place for the remains that have not been identified or claimed.

Digital Cameras: In 2002, the NYPD distributed digital cameras to all precinct, housing, and transit commanding officers through a grant from the New York City Police Foundation. The NYPD has also expanded the "Digital Photographs Pilot Project" from Queens to Brooklyn to assess the use of new digital camera technology and software and expedite the transmission of photographs to the District Attorney's Offices for the prosecution of defendants in domestic violence cases. In addition, the NYPD has provided laptop computers to all precinct, PSA and transit commanders, connecting each to the Compstat system.

Forensics: The NYPD has launched several technological initiatives to enable forensic scientists to provide a higher quality report in a timely manner to prosecutors in New York City. These include the enhancement of ballistic imaging, digital imaging, and the handling of data and evidence.

Probation: In 2002, the Department of Probation cleared twice as many warrants as in 2001, rising to 9,528 from 4,574 while the agency cut its headcount by 20%.

Safer Correctional Facilities for Adults and Juveniles: Crime at the City's correction facilities has continued to decline in 2002. Through December 5th, the number of use of force incidents stands at 1,042, a 19.3% reduction as compared to the same period in 2001. Inmate assaults of staff members have decreased by 22% through December 5, 2002 when compared to the same period in 2001. The number of weapons recovered has also decreased significantly in 2002. Through November 2002, the Department has recovered 1,753 weapons, a 34% reduction from 2,649 recoveries in 2001. The Department projects seizing under 2,000 weapons in 2002. This reduction indicates that fewer weapons are being smuggled and manufactured inside jails and fewer that inmates possess weapons thanks to increased searches by staff and the penalties imposed on inmates found bearing weapons. The number of inmate-on-inmate stabbing/slashing incidents remains low. Inmate suicides have also dropped. Notably, there have been no inmate homicides in 2002.

Through the use of its GOALS analysis system, the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) has reduced attacks against staff members from 113 in 2001 to 64 in 2002 (year-to-date), a 43% decline. As a result, DJJ facilities offer a safer, more secure working environment with reduced absenteeism rates and lower costs due to injuries sustained by staff.

Defending Human Rights: In 2002, the Human Rights Commission reduced its caseload from over 5,000 cases to below 1,500 cases, many extending back 10 or 20 years. The Commission accomplished the reduction by thoroughly reviewing the merits of all 5,000 cases, retraining attorneys and investigators, and beginning complaint investigations at the intake stage, rather than waiting several months until all legal documents are received. The Commission has also reached settlements for 137 of its cases, resulting in the payment of approximately $1 million dollars (compared to $315,000 in 2001) to complainants, the construction of 60 ramps for the disabled, employer training and policy changes at 25 companies, and the re-instatement of ten individuals and the hiring of five individuals previously denied employment for discriminatory reasons. Finally, the Commission has created a major program to educate immigrants about protections under Federal and City law against discrimination in employment based on national origin, citizenship status, or alienage.