Brooklyn DA announces multipart plan to combat gun violence
The surge in gun violence in New York City has led to officials coming
up with new ways to combat the issue..
Brooklyn
District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced a multipart plan in hope
to bring gun violence in the borough to a minimum.
The
strategy, Gonzalez says, is to combine and balance prosecution and
interruption.
“We
know that arrests and incarceration, however, alone as a strategy did not keep
us safe,” said Gonzalez. “And so, we need a multifaceted approach to get
guns out of the hands of a violent few.”
His
"Stop Violence Plan," announced last month, includes a $2.7
million digital evidence lab and an investment in the ghost gun unit.
The
NYPD says citywide shooting incidents increased by over 16% in March as compared to the same time
last year, but shootings decreased by more than 20% in the last month.
Project
Restore is also at the forefront of the gun violence initiative, with $2.5
million from the city to create partnerships between officers and violence
interrupters to target those committing gun violence crimes.
It is
still a pilot program, and Gonzalez says new information and data they receive
will shape the project, with researchers from Columbia University set to
monitor it.