Criminal Justice Expert Says Police Intervention Only Part Of Solution To New York City’s Gun Violence

Dr. Jeffrey Butts is the lead researcher at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, which was commissioned by the city to assess the effectiveness of its anti-violence initiatives. Butts said police intervention is only the first step and societal factors must also be addressed. Continue reading Criminal Justice Expert Says Police Intervention Only Part Of Solution To New York City’s Gun Violence

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

Teen Busted Nine Times Could Get Sweetheart Deal — For Graduating High School

“In general, courts and legislatures do tend to leave a little wiggle room for judicial interpretation, and of course prosecutors always hate that,” said Jeffrey Butts, head of the Research Evaluation Center at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Continue reading Teen Busted Nine Times Could Get Sweetheart Deal — For Graduating High School

Suffolk Police Stopped, Searched Minority Drivers at Higher Rates

“It’s where the story begins and where our attitudes begin in terms of how we perceive law enforcement,” said Jeffrey Butts, a research professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “If you’re pulled over all the time, and you think other people are behaving the same way you are, but they’re pulling you over, you immediately start thinking that police are biased, which means government is biased, which causes you to doubt the whole enterprise of democracy and government. So, it’s really serious.” Continue reading Suffolk Police Stopped, Searched Minority Drivers at Higher Rates

New York Public Radio– The Docket: The Tessa Majors Case and the State of New York’s Juvenile Justice System

The Tessa Majors case is a test for New York’s recently-enacted Raise The Age law, which barred the state from automatically prosecuting 16- and 17-year-olds as adults. Jeffrey Butts, who leads John Jay College’s Research and Evaluation Center, told Floyd that this is the exact kind of case that the law’s critics could use as leverage to reverse it. Continue reading New York Public Radio– The Docket: The Tessa Majors Case and the State of New York’s Juvenile Justice System

Albany Times Union — Reason for Drop in Youth Arrests Hard to Pin Down

Over the last five years the number of police stops and arrests involving Capital Region youths has fallen more than 45 percent, according to state data. It’s a stunning drop — but one without a clear single reason, say law enforcement and juvenile justice system professionals. Several factors are likely in play, including an overall drop in crime in the country, changes in the drug trade, increased use of alternatives to incarceration and changes in youth culture, said Jeffrey Butts, director of the Research and Evaluation Center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, tracking trends, and something definitely feels different than it did 20 years ago,” Butts said. Continue reading Albany Times Union — Reason for Drop in Youth Arrests Hard to Pin Down

Brooklyn Daily Eagle — More New Yorkers Serving Life in Prison are from Brooklyn than Anywhere Else in the City. Reformers are Calling for Relief.

It’s not possible to pinpoint exactly why Brooklyn has more people incarcerated with these long sentences using borough-by-borough numbers alone, said Jeffrey Butts, director of John Jay College of Criminal Justice’s Research and Evaluation Center. In order to determine why Brooklynites are serving so many life and virtual life sentences, Butts said, it would be necessary to control for specific crimes to then see if there is a pattern in sentencing. Continue reading Brooklyn Daily Eagle — More New Yorkers Serving Life in Prison are from Brooklyn than Anywhere Else in the City. Reformers are Calling for Relief.