Category: National Print

National Print

A 7-Year-Old Was Accused of Rape. Is Arresting Him the Answer?

There appears to be little, if any, organized opposition to raising the age of delinquency. But those who resist say doing so would hamstring the legal system, according to Jeffrey A. Butts, the director of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice’s Research and Evaluation Center. In rare cases involving a particularly dangerous child, he said, incarceration may prevent them from being a risk to others. Continue reading A 7-Year-Old Was Accused of Rape. Is Arresting Him the Answer?

Unknown's avatarJeffreyButts
National Print

Officials Worry the Rise in Violent Crime Portends a Bloody Summer: ‘It’s Trauma on Top of Trauma’

Some experts have detected some promising signs in recent crime data. In New York City, more than 500 people have been shot this year — the highest number in a decade and up more than 50 percent over the same period in 2020. But Jeffrey Butts, director of the research and evaluation center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said that percentage was better than the 158 percent increase in shootings reported last fall in the city, suggesting that the surge in violence, while still up, may be declining. Continue reading Officials Worry the Rise in Violent Crime Portends a Bloody Summer: ‘It’s Trauma on Top of Trauma’

Unknown's avatarJeffreyButts
National Print

The Spike in Shootings During the Pandemic May Outlast the Virus

Restaurants, stores, offices, theaters and many other businesses and cultural institutions will be allowed to open fully May 19. But the cycles of violent retaliation fueled by individual shootings in recent months will be hard to break, said Jeffrey Butts, the director of the research and evaluation center at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Continue reading The Spike in Shootings During the Pandemic May Outlast the Virus

Unknown's avatarJeffreyButts
National Print

As cities begin to emerge from pandemic, homicide rates remain high

Butts cautioned against inferring cause and effect or making substantial policy changes in response to what could turn out to be a temporary variation. The wide range of communities in which increases in homicides occurred indicates the trend has relatively little to do with local policies and conditions. Continue reading As cities begin to emerge from pandemic, homicide rates remain high

Unknown's avatarJeffreyButts