Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced the expansion of the Gun Court program to the Bronx, Queens, and to additional precincts in Brooklyn.  Since opening in April, the Brooklyn Gun Court has resulted in more and longer jail sentences, and the virtual elimination of straight probationary sentences for felony gun offenders.  Based upon the success of the pilot program, two new precincts have been added to the Brooklyn Gun Court and two new Gun Courts will open in the Bronx and Queens in January 2004, an expansion of the program from 5 to 35 precincts.  New York State Chief Administrative Judge Jonathan Lippman, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, Criminal Justice Coordinator John Feinblatt, Bronx County District Attorney Robert Johnson, Queens County District Attorney Richard Brown and a representative from the office of the Brooklyn District Attorney joined Mayor Bloomberg at City Hall for the announcement.

“People who carry illegal guns are a menace to the public, and it is important that we send these criminals a clear message that they will be met with swift and certain justice,” Mayor Bloomberg said.  “Gun courts give gun crime the attention it deserves by focusing our best police, prosecutorial, and judicial resources on these critical cases.  Gun cases are processed quickly, adjudicated fairly, and are sentenced in accordance with the State mandatory minimum laws.  The Gun Court program has worked to reduce gun crime in Brooklyn and I am pleased to announce its expansion to the Bronx and Queens as part of our overall efforts to make the safest big city in America even safer.”

“Building on the success of the Brooklyn pilot, the new Gun Courts will address a serious public safety issue and ensure that gun cases are handled in a focused, efficient and expeditious manner.”  Judge Lippman said. “This is another step by the court system to tailor its case management strategy to the needs of the community and the criminal justice system as a whole.”

The Bronx and Queens Gun Courts will follow the same model as Brooklyn, with one judge handling all qualifying felony gun possession cases from arraignment through trial and sentence.  Both the Bronx and Queens Gun Courts will process every felony firearms case from every precinct in their respective boroughs.

Like the Brooklyn Gun Court, the Bronx and Queens Gun Courts will be complemented by a police training component designed to strengthen the cases that result from gun arrests.  Officers assigned to all target precincts as well as officers from specialized units that operate in these precincts will receive intensive instruction in how to recognize when a suspect is carrying a gun, how to safely apprehend and disarm such individuals, and how to clearly articulate the facts that provide the legal basis for searches and seizures during court testimony.  The Bronx and Queens County District Attorneys’ Offices will conduct the portion of the training concerning testimony.

The Bronx Gun Court is expected to process approximately 270 cases per year, while the Queens Gun Court is expected to process roughly 175 cases per year.  Both courts will begin hearing cases by January 2004.  It is estimated that approximately two-thirds of all felony gun prosecutions in the City will be heard in one of the three Gun Courts. 

“Clearly the Gun Court in Brooklyn, established last April, has already proven its worth with an increase of more than 20% in dispositions of gun possession felonies over the same period in 2002. In addition the quality of sentences has improved with more defendants receiving a year or more in prison as opposed to sentences that previously included less prison time and probation,” said Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes.

“When criminals are afraid to carry guns, the level of violence drops significantly,” said Queens County District Attorney Richard A. Brown. “But unless those arrested are vigorously prosecuted – and receive tough sentences where warranted – the law is meaningless.  Placing all gun cases together in a single courtroom before a single judge will give us greater consistency in the application of our existing gun laws, better monitoring of gun case dispositions and improved public safety through the imposition of the tough sentences that the Legislature intended.  The end result will be a safer City for all New Yorkers.”

“The issue of guns has been a priority since the beginning of my tenure as District Attorney fifteen years ago,” said Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson. “Although our murder rate has declined for more than a decade, and shooting incidents are down, we welcome any initiative that will enhance our ability to get appropriate sentences for illegal gun possession and save additional lives.”

The Brooklyn Gun Court was created as a specialized court part to focus exclusively on felony gun possession cases from a cluster of five precincts that suffer from disproportionate concentrations of gun violence – the 67th, 73rd, 75th, 77th, and 79th Precincts.  In 2003, these and the additional two precincts that fall within the Brooklyn Gun Court’s jurisdiction accounted for 65% of the borough’s shootings and 68% of its gun arrests.  One judge now presides over all qualifying cases from beginning to end, making all legal rulings, conducting all hearings and trials, and rendering sentence for all convicted offenders.   Under current New York State law, felony gun possession carries a mandatory one-year minimum jail sentence, but a judge has the discretion to impose a lesser sentence in certain limited circumstances.  During the Brooklyn Gun Court’s first six months, the median length of jail sentences has quadrupled, from 90 days to one year.  Straight jail sentences have more than tripled – rising from 14% to 44% – while sentences of straight probation have been eliminated entirely.  In addition, cases have been processed faster and more efficiently under an accelerated 120-day schedule, a 33% improvement over the current standard for case disposition in Brooklyn.  Since the Brooklyn Gun Court began, shooting incidents in the court’s five precincts have decreased 15.4%.

The Brooklyn, Bronx, and Queens Gun Courts are the latest expansions of the Operation Spotlight program.  Since the launch of Operation Spotlight in October of 2002, the percentage of chronic misdemeanants receiving jail sentences for offences like shoplifting, trespassing or drug possession receiving jail sentences has increased by nearly 50%.  Probation Violation Courts – the first Operation Spotlight expansion project – have resulted in jail sentences for approximately 55% of felony probation violators in the Bronx and Brooklyn.  In addition, Operation Spotlight’s Specially Targeted Offenders Project (STOP) has produced a 36% increase in arrests of convicted sex offenders for Megan’s Law violations and a 132% increase in incarceration rate.

“Operation Spotlight’s intensive focus on problem people and problem places is a crime-fighting strategy that has been proven to work in this City” Mr. Feinblatt said.  “It’s worked for chronic misdemeanor offenders, it’s worked for probation violators, it’s worked for sex offenders, and now – because of the Brooklyn Gun Court – we know that it works for gun offenders.  The Gun Court model is a focused, efficient, and effective way of dealing with an important and dangerous group of offenders.  And so it makes perfect sense to expand this successful strategy to other parts of the City where it can do the most good.”