It seems like a lot of cities implemented more "surgical" targeting of violent crime hot spots.
For instance, Atlanta implemented something called "Operation Heatwave" that was a city/county/state collaborative effort to do a massive 16-week sweep/crackdown on gang activity in a massive sweep.
Many major city's prosecutors have also stepped up in their bringing charges against people engaging in gang activity (in circumstances where they may have let some things slide in the past, or used prosecutorial discretion to bring lower charges against people)
For example, in D.C. alone, the district attorney's office:
increased its prosecution rate to over 50% of arrests in early 2024, up from 31% in fiscal 2022
With regards to Baltimore:
Baltimore prosecutors under State’s Attorney Ivan Bates have been charging more individuals and pursuing more serious charges since he took office in early 2023. This shift is part of a broader strategy to address violent crime and restore public confidence in the justice system
The number of prosecutors increased from 141 to 185.
New divisions were established to handle tasks like reviewing body camera footage and assisting victims and witnesses, specialized in breaking through the 'no snitches' culture that exists in some neighborhoods.
These changes have enabled prosecutors to focus more on building and trying cases, leading to longer sentences and fewer dropped cases.
However, it would appear that some of the tactics used are getting a certain measure of pushback from defense attorneys.
For instance, an increased percentage of juveniles aged 15+ are getting charged as adults for gang-related crimes.
And the "drop & recharge" approach has gotten a little scrutiny as well
(I guess the rationale is, if the prosecutors need more time to build up a solid case, and the judge is refusing to grant them a continuance/postponement for whatever reason, they simply drop the charges temporarily, and then refile them in a few days until, rinse & repeat, until they find the a judge who will give them the time they need)
While not quite the same thing as the "forum shopping" I've elaborated on before, it's in the same theme.
Basically, if a prosecutor's case gets assigned to a judge who has a "softer on crime" track record, drop & refile until you get the "tough on crime" judge so that you have better luck with pressing bigger charges, and locking the person away for longer.
"Questionable tactics"?....a bit, but it's going to be hard to rally public opinion against those practices given they seem to be having a decent success rate with regards to lowering violent crime.
www.wypr.org
