Mayor de Blasio and the state courts this week announced Project Fast Track, a strategy to reduce gun violence in New York City through a targeted, system-wide focus on the limited number of individuals responsible for most gun violence.
Key features of the strategy include a new Gun Violence Suppression Division to intensify the NYPD’s capacity to investigate shootings, gangs and illegal guns, and dedicated judges who will rapidly resolve illegal gun cases within six months.
The announcement represents the first time in New York City history that the mayor, law enforcement and the court system have announced a unified plan to focus on gangs driving violent crime in the city.
Project Fast Track builds upon the successes of the Brooklyn Gun Court, announced in 2003, by working to appropriately sentence defendants in illegal gun cases, with heavier penalties for high-risk defendants and quicker disposition when the evidence does not support a charge.
There are currently 203 defendants detained in city jails whose illegal gun cases have been pending for longer than six months. For these cases, the average length of detention is 358.6 days. Resolving these cases within six months could safely reduce the average daily population in city jails by approximately 98 inmates.
