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Q&A
Impact of increased funding on justice system efficiency
5:47:39
ยท
5 min
Council Member Yusef Salaam asks how increased funding would improve the efficiency of the justice system. The DAs explain the potential benefits of additional resources.
- Brooklyn DA highlights how additional staff could reduce case processing times and improve fairness
- Bronx DA emphasizes the need for specialized attention to youth crime and community needs
- Manhattan DA focuses on specific requests for complaint room staff and discovery specialists
- Queens DA discusses the efficiency gains from having an in-house crime lab
Yusef Salaam
5:47:39
I mean I think this may be obvious, but just to get it on record, how would these increase in funding increase the efficiency of the justice system?
Eric Gonzalez
5:47:51
I think that's a really, important, issue.
5:47:57
Know, DA McMahon, when he discussed discovery, said that one of the unintended consequences, besides many more dismissals, is that it's actually lengthened the time that it takes to get a case ready and processed in court.
5:48:13
It's actually the opposite of what was intended.
5:48:16
They thought a shorter discovery window would mean quicker and faster resolution of cases.
5:48:22
But what we've seen is that on average, cases, last about six months longer.
5:48:28
But those cases, we never really dug our way out of the COVID backlog.
5:48:34
And so I took a lot of pride that in Brooklyn, pretrial detention, even on the most serious crimes, we got people to trial around a year, year and a half.
5:48:45
Unfortunately, I cannot say that's what's happening today.
5:48:50
In many of our homicide cases, I'm looking at cases that are three and four years old.
5:48:54
It's unacceptable.
5:48:55
It's unfair to the detainee who has not been convicted, but it's also unfair to victims and families and survivors of these crimes that they cannot get their day in court.
5:49:05
Getting those those staff numbers up so that ADAs can move those cases forward in fair and efficient ways is critically important.
5:49:14
And, of course, all of the other work that, you know, DA Katz talked about, our conviction review unit, remains the national standard of how to do this work.
5:49:24
But when ADAs are overworked and investigators don't have the resources, they're more likely and inclined to make mistakes that could lead to wrongful convictions.
5:49:33
This is really important work.
5:49:35
This is not just simply about processing cases, but it's about making sure that things are done correctly, that justice is upheld, and that our city moves in safe and fair ways.
5:49:47
Thank you for that question.
Darcel Clark
5:49:53
Yes.
5:49:54
I mean, I would agree with D.
5:49:55
A.
5:49:56
Cass, but also, you know, it's also to have enough people to really look at the humanity in the work that we're doing.
5:50:02
It's not necessarily towards conviction, but it's toward making just sure that the right thing is done, whatever that is.
5:50:10
And every case is its own and we want to do that.
5:50:13
We want to make sure that we have enough people.
5:50:15
We like I told you, the increase in youth crime ended up itself and and the victims of crime, the survivors, that takes special attention and we need more people to be able to do that.
5:50:26
We're losing a generation of young people in The Bronx right now because we don't have enough staff to really pay attention or to be specialized in areas that can really deal with that population and what is driving the crime in our communities.
Alvin Bragg
5:50:43
So with respect to efficiency, two of our requests I think go directly to that.
5:50:49
One for the personnel in our complaint room, the 12 new paralegals.
5:50:53
I think this is probably true of all of our complaint rooms, but Manhattan it's like nineteen hours a day, three sixty five days a year.
5:51:00
We're asking for 12 paralegals.
5:51:03
That additional staff is going to help with arrest or arraignment time.
5:51:07
We'll go directly to sort of the efficiency really at the you know, one of the most critical times in the life cycle of a case.
5:51:13
One of the other asks is for discovery specialists which will help us do the diligence that we want to do and that we are required to do and to move cases swiftly.
5:51:23
So the requests are tailored, those two in particular.
Michael McMahon
5:51:29
I also add, mister chairman, there's been, you know, in this discussion about discovery and discovery reform, there's been some conversations that money was allotted for the district attorneys to implement technology changes and and make things more efficient, bring in the staff.
5:51:46
We've all spent our money.
5:51:47
I mean, we've used those resources.
5:51:49
We have broadened our capacity.
5:51:52
We have, you know, upped our technology, increased our storage space.
5:52:00
We have a platform to gather and the discovery and exchange with the defendants, the discovery platform.
5:52:07
We've done all those things, we have the staff, but it's still creating all of these unintended consequences that the well meaning legislation didn't foresee at the time.
5:52:18
And I would I would also point out, you know, you see in front of you really the broad continuum of political perspectives, I think, or and yet we're all here in one unified voice saying, no.
5:52:30
We need some minor changes in in that law that'll make our criminal justice fairer to the accused, to the victim of crime, and to the public as a whole.
5:52:39
It'll help us keep the public safer.
Melinda Katz
5:52:44
I don't know if you want everyone to answer every question.
5:52:46
So I'll just chime in.
5:52:48
So the crime lab is meant to be just that, more efficient, right.
5:52:53
Because if we have to do every investigation we have has some sort of technology involved.
5:52:58
If I'm taking down, like we did a few months ago, Trans de Aragua gangs or if we're taking down the Crips or if we're working to prosecute those that are selling secondhand, you know, Taylor Swift concert tickets or whatever it is.
5:53:09
They pretty much all in general have some technology aspect to it.
5:53:14
So if I can do that without outsourcing it to other contractors, it would certainly make the system more efficient.