Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced Operation Spotlight, a comprehensive criminal justice initiative focusing on a small group of offenders who commit a large portion of quality of life offenses in New York City. The comprehensive multi-agency initiative will involve City and State law enforcement agencies as well as the courts at each stage of the criminal justice process. Deputy Mayor Carol Robles-Roman, Criminal Justice Coordinator John Feinblatt, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, Probation Commissioner Martin Horn, Chief Administrative Judge Jonathan Lippman, Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson, Kings District Attorney Charles Hynes, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown, and representatives for the Manhattan and Richmond County District Attorneys joined Mayor Bloomberg at City Hall for the announcement.

"Operation Spotlight is another example of the City's strong commitment to improving the quality of life for all New Yorkers," Mayor Bloomberg said. "Operation Spotlight will employ a multi-agency approach at both the City and State levels to focus on a small group of low-level criminals who consistently break the law and make up a disproportionate amount of offenses. This initiative will bring law enforcement and judicial resources to bear upon those who do the most to disrupt our society, from when they enter the criminal justice system at arrest to when they are supervised during probation. Just because crime continues to fall does not mean we can become complacent. Operation Spotlight aims to reduce crime even further through vigilance at every level of the criminal justice process."

"The court system recognizes that some of the most intractable areas of illegal conduct can be most effectively addressed if all components of the justice system work together," Judge Lippman said. "This coordinated, problem-solving approach has proven successful in our efforts to combat drug addiction, domestic violence, and quality of life crimes. We welcome this opportunity to apply this focused approach to persistent misdemeanor offenders, who commit such a large portion of crimes in the City."

Operation Spotlight will concentrate on a group of offenders that is responsible for a disproportionate share of quality of life offenses such as drug possession, property crimes, and criminal trespass. Data reveals that approximately twenty-eight percent of all non-felony offenses prosecuted in New York City are committed by only six percent of the defendants. Under this new initiative, the City will pay special attention to the roughly 9,700 defendants who constantly commit misdemeanors.

Operation Spotlight will systematically identify the highest rate offenders based on their criminal histories. This information will be shared among the courts, prosecutors, the NYPD, and the Departments of Correction and Probation to enable a coordinated response whenever chronic offenders are arrested.

Under the supervision of a single judge in each borough, the courts will dedicate special parts to track persistent misdemeanant cases, expediting processing and ensuring that defendants' criminal histories are accounted for at sentencing. At the same time, the Police Department will ensure the timely production of evidence required for the prosecution of these cases. Finally, the Department of Correction will provide intensive discharge planning for incarcerated defendants, while the Department of Probation will closely monitor persistent misdemeanants under its supervision.

Most of these offenders have substantial criminal records. Forty-one percent are convicted felons, and twenty-seven percent have eleven or more misdemeanor convictions. Each has been arrested at least three times within one year, and it is expected that fifty percent will be re-arrested within six months, with over 20 percent on felony charges. Forty-one percent are charged with drug offenses, twelve percent with prostitution and sex offenses, eleven percent with property crimes, eleven percent with turnstile-jumping, and nine percent with criminal trespass. Thirty percent of these offenses are committed in Manhattan, twenty-nine percent in Brooklyn, twenty percent in the Bronx, seventeen percent in Queens, and three percent in Staten Island.