Will New York City’s New ‘Gun Court’ Help Reduce Shootings?
On Tuesday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio introduced Project Fast Track, a new gun safety initiative program that will immediately empower a Brooklyn court and a new division of 200 NYPD officers—both solely dedicated to gun cases. It will reassign funds and officers the city already has, while kicking in $2 million extra next year for the medical examiner's office to expand DNA testing.
"New Yorkers in every neighborhood in this city are united in their desire for safe streets," de Blasio told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday. "To the few individuals responsible for New York City's remaining gun violence, our message is clear: You will be found and you will be quickly prosecuted to the full extent of the law."
The program comes at a strange time in the city's self-perception. This past year was the safest in the Big Apple's recent history, with overall crime dropping 1.7 percent. Yet according to a Quinnipiac poll from August, 46 percent of the city's voters said crime is a "very serious" problem. The daily newspapers' front pages are constantly covered with stories that lament a return to the bad old days of New York City grit, even though the city also seems richer and glossier than ever.
But with guns, there is real reason to be concerned. While New York City saw a 3 percent drop in shootings last year homicides actually rose from 333 to 350. Gang-related shootings—which, law enforcement experts and officials say, are the strongest drivers of local gun violence—were up 18 percent. Also, earlier this year, two NYPD officers was separately shot and killed by perps with illegal guns imported from down South, where laws remain lax.
http://www.vice.com/read/will-new-york-citys-new-gun-court-help-reduce-shootings