NCJ Number
82577
Journal
Police Studies Volume: 5 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1982) Pages: 3-8
Date Published
1982
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The theory and practice of the New York City career criminal program are discussed.
Abstract
An increasing amount of empirical evidence suggests that recidivists, who are a minority of all offenders, commit a disproportionate amount of crime; however, the routine operations of the criminal justice system have not been effective against the career criminal. This has led some police and prosecutors to develop special programs for dealing with career criminals. One such program is under the career criminal section of the New York Court District Attorney's Office. This unit concentrates on persons arrested for routine felonies and who have a number of recent arrests and convictions for crimes such as robbery and burglary. When this career criminal is identified, an experienced assistant district attorney and backup staff are assigned to locate witnesses and do legal research. In 1980, the New York City Police and the New York County District Attorney accelerated the career criminal program by identifying and apprehending such persons, rather than waiting for them to be arrested through routine police work. This resulted in the development of the Felony Augmentation Program (FAP). FAP identified chronic offenders at large in the community to determine whether they were an appropriate target for the program. The most serious chronic criminals were placed under police surveillance. In the first 9 months of the program's operations, of the 1,100 targeted persons, 59 percent were arrested. The indictment rate was 59 percent, compared to 20 percent citywide, and of those indicted, 89 percent were convicted, compared to 80 percent citywide. Twenty-four references are listed.