NCJ Number
83520
Date Published
1981
Length
45 pages
Annotation
This preliminary report of the New York State Executive Advisory Commission on the Administration of Justice -- established to review New York's criminal justice system, advise the Governor on its problems, and recommend improvements -- identifies the areas the Commission will investigate.
Abstract
During the past 10 years, there have been sweeping changes, innovative ideas, and, overall, a general improvement in New York's criminal justice system, but the demands on the system have increased dramatically. The present structures of the system cannot meet the demands placed upon them by the numbers of cases being processed. In the area of corrections, the Commission wil focus on short-and long-term approaches for dealing with prison overcrowding. In the area of information systems, the Commission will investigate the feasibility of integrating present and future systems for the benefit of all components of the criminal justice system, as well as the necessity for security of information for the protection of individuals. The Commission will address three issues in the court system: the need for more judges and a unified system of trial courts, the need to reduce the volume of petty cases in the lower courts, and the need to reform the work rules which delay case disposition. In the area of policing, attention will be given to assistance -- technological, education, and financial -- in the training of local police officers; the further development of statewide support services; and the adoption of procedures, such as telephonic search and arrest warrants, to enable police to operate efficiently and effectively in conformity with the Constitution. Members of the Commission are listed in the appendix.