"My main concern is that [politicians] don't care about the details, they just want to have a good sound bite and a good promotional campaign," says Jeffrey Butts, director of the Research and Evaluation Center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City.
Tag: police
Neighbors at Risk
Shooting incidents reported in each New York City census block group were divided over the population to create yearly rates of shooting incidents. Researchers then ranked all CBGs based on their rates of shooting incidents and identified the 50 CBGs with the highest rates in each year from 2015 to 2021.
Bureau of Governmental Research — Beyond Law Enforcement: Exploring Community-Based Strategies To Make New Orleans Safer
Jeffrey Butts participated in a panel hosted by the Bureau of Governmental Research in New Orleans, discussing the potential of community-based violence prevention strategies.
NYTimes — Shootings Rise in New York, Coloring Perceptions of City’s Safety
. “It reminds me of the 1990s, in the sense that every incident of violence becomes a major news story,” said Jeffrey Butts, director of the research and evaluation center at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Gothamist — Bridgewater Mall Incident Reignites New Jersey Debate over Police and Racial Profiling
For professor Jeffrey Butts of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, who has spent years studying juvenile justice, the video is clear evidence of the disparate treatment accorded young Black people by police, long a concern of activists and policymakers across New Jersey.
Boston Globe — For Some, Report on Mass. Traffic Stops Shows Stubborn Racial Biases Persist in Policing
Jeffrey Butts, the director of the Research and Evaluation Center at John Jay College, said Tuesday that the results of the study are “not surprising.” “When we talk about racial and ethnic bias in the justice system it’s always a little increment of bias at every stage . . . [it] ends up being a huge problem at the end,” he said.
Al Jazeera — Responding to Gun Violence in New York City
"If we start to define public safety though, in terms of how much money we spend on policing, that's the wrong approach."
Nueva York, ¿Laboratorio para Frenar la Violencia Armada?
Con crecientes índices de criminalidad tanto en Nueva York como en el resto de Estados Unidos, el presidente Joe Biden se reúne este jueves, en la ciudad de los rascacielos, con el alcalde Eric Adams para hablar de la inseguridad que generan las armas de fuego, un asunto sensible para el Partido Demócrata.
amny — Op-Ed | Phil Banks Must Forge Public Safety Collaboration at City Hall and Locally
Under the MAP program, community members meet with agency officials to identify indicators that affect public safety, and work with these officials to address those issues. Research by John Jay College of Criminal Justice found that this program reduced felonies and misdemeanors in participating housing developments.
CBS2 New York — Criminal Justice Expert Says Police Intervention Only Part Of Solution To New York City’s Gun Violence
John Jay College of Criminal Justice was commissioned by the city to assess the effectiveness of its anti-violence initiatives. Jeffrey Butts said police intervention is only the first step and societal factors must also be addressed.
Washington Post — Taking on Racism and Crime Should be the Same Fight
In New York, a study by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice found that violence interrupters helped reduce crime in the East New York and South Bronx neighborhoods.
CNN — US Law Enforcement ‘Very Nervous’ About Proactive Policing as Gun Violence Soars
"I'm an older white guy. I'm going to stop, I don't feel threatened," said Jeffrey Butts, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. "There are people whose rational expectation is that (the stop) puts them in danger. They're going to have different response. It's amazing to me that we haven't confronted that and individual police officers don't think about that. They're just shocked and angered by someone daring to not comply."
Newsday — Murder, Auto Theft Increased Statewide as Pandemic Played a Role
"It’s absurd to suggest that a change in New York bail practices somehow led to the shooting surge we’ve seen in cities across the country, not only New York City," said Jeffrey Butts, research professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. "I doubt the officials posing this explanation even believe it. It’s just an opportunity to score political points against a law they would oppose whether it was effective or not."
ABC7 Newscenter, New York, June 10, 2021
Jeffrey Butts interviewed by N.J. Burkett of ABC7 New York on June 10, 2021 about the rise in shooting incidents across New York City.
Christian Science Monitor — US Saw Biggest Spike in Gun Violence in 50 Years. Don’t Panic Yet.
Experts caution that while law enforcement is a vital part of public safety, police should be one part in a larger package of solutions. There are well-tested methods that decrease violence, but implementing them at scale will require patience, nuance, and a willingness to think past political narratives.
MSNBC — The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart
Jeffrey Butts: "Researchers can at least eliminate possible explanations. So, you can look at data and test hypotheses. One hypothesis that has been around (you alluded to it) is that it’s somehow related to Defunding the Police. So, there have been researchers who have looked at police budgets, and changes from year to year... and there’s really no relationship there.”
Fox5 New York — Chinatown Assault Suspect was Arrested Last Week on Other Charges
Police often say the criminal justice system is a revolving door but Jeffrey Butts of John Jay College of Criminal Justice said his research proves otherwise. "The vast majority of people who are released pretrial do not get arrested again while they are waiting for trial," he said. "About 5%, at most, of people who are arrested and waiting trial and then released get rearrested prior to their trial."
Sinclair News Networks — As Cities Begin to Emerge from Pandemic, Homicide Rates Remain High
Homicide rates in many U.S. cities remained elevated through early 2021, a distressing trend that began before the coronavirus pandemic struck, and experts are still trying to determine exactly why it is happening and how long it might last.
CBC News — Prospects for Police Reform in the U.S.
Jeffrey Butts interviewed on Canadian radio about recent efforts to reform U.S. policing.
Gothamist — PBA President Politicizes Shooting Of Officer In The Bronx, Blaming Mayor’s Crimefighting Policies
A 2020 study by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice found that shootings continually decreased as the number of Cure Violence programs increased across the city.
The City — Five Days Without Cops: Could Brooklyn Policing Experiment be a ‘Model for the Future’?
A Brooklyn community’s experiment to deal with a longstanding crime hotspot in a busy commercial corridor took a new approach last month: They pulled back on policing. ... Jeffrey Butts, who has done extensive research on Cure-Violence initiatives, also questioned how far the experiment could go.
Reducing Violence Without Police: A Review of Research Evidence
Arnold Ventures asked the Research and Evaluation Center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice to review and summarize the research evidence for policies and programs that reduce community violence without relying on police.
Newsday — 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."
City Lab — As Murders Rise, New York City Turns to a Police Alternative
[Cure Violence workers] “try to stop the cycle of retaliation, and because they are not seen as an extension of law enforcement, the people most likely to be walking around with handguns in their pocket will talk to them and will allow them to settle a dispute before it turns violent,” said Jeffrey Butts, director of the Research and Evaluation Center at City University of New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
alternet — What Can Safety Without Police Look Like?
Sheyla Delgado, deputy director for analytics at John Jay College and a researcher for the Cure Violence evaluation, says the comparisons offer promising evidence in favor of the program’s public health approach to violence reduction. She says what seems to make Cure Violence different from comparable programs that work to reduce violence is that it humanizes all of its participants.