Posted on 06/01/2006 11:03:19 AM PDT by neverdem
Expected increase based on data from new federal Project Exile program in Baltimore
If the current trend continues through the end of the year, federal authorities in Baltimore believe that they will prosecute at least one-third more gun cases than they did last year in the city.
The projected increase comes from an analysis of the first four months of Baltimore's new Project Exile program, which shows additional state gun cases as well. Under the program, federal prosecutors have agreed to take more gun cases in the city and use the threat of federal indictment to cajole other defendants into pleading guilty in state court.
Authorities believe that criminals fear the federal system, where the chances of being convicted are much higher and the likelihood of serving a prison sentence out of state is much greater.
The Exile program also includes a broad public service campaign, including new bus advertisements that start today.
"I want to emphasize that the program has only just begun," Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said at a news conference yesterday.
Others who attended the event said that the preliminary success of Project Exile puts to rest political fights that once dominated the gun-crime debate in Baltimore.
The city's top prosecutor described the effort as "united," and Police Commissioner Leonard D. Hamm echoed those remarks, adding: "There are no longer any more turf battles."
But there are critics of the program, including some attorneys and public defenders, who worry whether defendants fully understand the implications of their choice when they're pressured to plead guilty by a letter from federal prosecutors.
Some criminologists continue to question whether the Exile program has significantly reduced violent crime over time.
"Generally there is support for the Exile model, but there isn't a last word on its success in lowering..."
(Excerpt) Read more at baltimoresun.com ...
One of the most fanatic anti-gun organizations in the US. Jus so y'all know his viewpoint
Criminologist David M. Kennedy, who conducted a study of Baltimore crime patterns in 1999, said the number of federal gun cases has risen and fallen in recent years "with no apparent impact on killing, which has been the general experience of most jurisdictions trying Exile."
In short gun control has no effect on crime except to:
Crime in Baltimore is up slightly over last year. According to Police Department statistics, homicides have risen 3 percent in the first five months of the year, while the number of shootings has grown 4 percent.
Baltimore has some of the most stringent anti-selfdefense laws (gun control) in the nation. NY, DC, and MA are worse to be sure, but obviously Baltimore's rabid anti-gun bureaucracy isn't reducing crime.
If he is looking at 1999...forget it. Project Exile, when done properly, works by taking the violent offenders off the streets for a longer time and for a certain time. Given that one violent offender will usually commit many crimes, taking that person off the street in a swift and sure manner will drop the violent crime rate and deter a new criminal from taking his place.
Agreed - but I don't agree that
and deter a new criminal from taking his place.
Criminals are bred by the anti-family welfare state set up by LBJ, dismal Jimmah, and the Democrats in the '60s and '70s. Unless this is dismantled criminals will never be an endangered species.
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