Project Safe Neighborhoods

Is it working?

A Department of Justice fact sheet claims the program is working. Let's see. Here's what PSN is doing:

Prosecution:

-- The Department prosecuted a record number of 13,062 defendants for violations of federal gun crimes in FY 2005 -- more than a 62 percent increase since FY 2000.

-- The number of federal firearms cases filed remains at an historic high. The department filed 10,841 federal firearms cases in FY 2005 -- a nearly 73 percent increase since FY 2000.

-- Under PSN, federal prosecutors focus their resources on the most serious violent offenders, taking them off the streets and placing them behind bars where they cannot re-offend.

-- In FY 2005, over 93 percent of those offenders received prison terms and over 68 percent were sentenced to three or more years in prison.

Deterrence:

-- In September 2003, the Justice Department, together with the Ad Council, the Mullen Agency, and other PSN partners, launched a public service announcement campaign titled "Mothers." The campaign uses the tag line "Gun crimes hit home" and couples a strong enforcement message with prevention and deterrence messages that focus on the consequences of illegal gun use.

-- In January 2004, the Department and its partners launched a second series of national PSAs, titled "Sentenced." These PSAs continued to focus on the pain gun crime offenders cause their own families to endure.

-- Also in 2004, a new PSN public service announcement campaign targeting the problem of domestic violence and firearms was announced. For some rural communities, domestic violence is the most significant gun violence issue, and these ads warned domestic violence offenders that federal law prohibits them from possessing a gun.

-- By the end of 2005, the PSN national public service announcement campaign had received over $98 million in donated media time.

-- At the 2006 PSN National Conference, new radio PSAs developed with the Ad Council and the Mullen Agency will debut. These PSAs, titled "Sounds of Gun Crime" and "Time Served," will be produced in English and Spanish and will be officially released in the coming months.

Prevention:

-- PSN has also focused on preventing youth gun crime. As early as FY 2002, $20 million in PSN grant funds went to 37 cities to address juvenile gun crime, including school and gang- related gun violence, and to prosecute adults who illegally furnish firearms to youth. The Department also funded a federal Sentry prosecutor in each of the 93 U.S. Attorneys' Offices, and committed nearly $50 million to Project Sentry efforts from FY 2002 to FY 2004.

-- The Administration is working to follow through on the President's campaign promise to distribute 65 million gun safety locks for firearms in America. Project Childsafe, administered by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, will distribute 35 million gun safety kits by the end of 2006.

Here are the results:

-- The violent crime rate is at its lowest level since 1973, when the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics started collecting crime victimization data.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 1973, violent crime in the US totaled 47.7 per 1,000 in population ages 12+. It fluctuated a bit, but on the whole continued to rise through 1982, when the total violent crime rate peaked at 50.7 per 1,000. In 1983, violent crime rates began to decline, and continued a steady decline with a minor fluctuation here and there until 1990, when the rate began to rise again. The increase continued until 1994. In 1995, the violent crime rates began to drop again and continued to decline from 46.1 per every 1,000 in 1995 to 21.1 in 2004.

Given the cyclical nature of crime rates and the fact that violent crime began to decrease in 1995 -- before Bush, before PSN and during Clinton's time in office, how can the DOJ in good conscience imply that PSN was somehow responsible for the decline?

-- Non-fatal gun crimes are at their lowest level ever recorded and are down 42 percent since 2000.

Again, we turn to the Bureau of Justice Statistics for a fuller picture.

In 1993, non-fatal firearm crimes constituted 11 percent of all violent incidents.

That number remained at 11 percent in 1994, dropped to 10 percent in 1995 and remained at 10 percent through 1996. In 1997, that number dropped to 9 percent, in 1998, it was 8 percent, and in 1999-2000 it was at 7 percent. In 2001, 9 percent of violent non-fatal crimes in the US were committed with firearms and in 2002, that number declined again and again in 2004.

So, yes, the DOJ is technically correct when it claims that non-violent crimes committed with guns are at their lowest level since 2001. What they don't tell you is that aside from the fluctuation in 2001, these types of crimes were already on the decline even without PSN.

-- The violent crime rate has steadily declined during the Bush Administration, and from 2001-2004, it was on average nearly 33 percent lower than in the preceding four years.

-- In 2004, there were 117,520 fewer victims of non-fatal violent crimes than in 2003, and 201,840 fewer than there were in 2000.

Again, this is all well and good. However, violent crimes have been generally on the decline since 1995. This is good news all around. I just can't see how touting PSN a success in light of crime trends that appear to be completely independent of the program is honest or fair.

What HAS Project Safe Neighborhoods accomplished?

Well, according to CATO's Gene Healy, it's dumped on the 10th Amendment to the US Constitution, for one.

First, PSN flagrantly violates the 10th Amendment and erodes the states' primary responsibility for criminal law enforcement. Second, the program will likely lead to a mindless zero-tolerance policy toward technical infractions of the gun laws, resulting in long prison sentences for marginal offenders who do not deserve to be in jail.

As for those conviction rates, I turn to Paul Craig Roberts and VDARE.

Conviction rates are the key indicator in judging the performance of U.S. Attorneys’ Offices. Unlike other prosecutors whose bailiwicks cover all criminal offenses, the 713 Safe Neighborhood prosecutors are limited to one offense. Once they run out of serious gun crimes, they push on with technical and meritless indictments.

Meritless convictions were fast in coming. Last January the Des Moines Register asked; “What sort of country would put a man in federal prison for 15 years for possessing a single .22 caliber bullet? Ours would.” Dane Yirkovsky, a drug user and sometime burglar, was sentenced as an armed criminal for forgetting to dispose of a bullet that he found on a floor while installing a carpet.

Katica Crippen, a 32-year old woman with a drug conviction, posed naked for her photographer boyfriend holding one of his guns as a prop. Police found the photos while surfing internet porn sites. Her nakedness was no offense, but prosecutors interpreted holding a gun as “being in possession.” Crippen was given an 18-month federal sentence for being an “armed felon.”

Are these the kinds of convictions and prosecutions the DOJ is touting as part of PSN's success?

It appears so. In Richmond, Virginia, according to Roberts, these types meritless gun cases pursued by federal prosecutor David Schiller caused federal judge Richard L. Williams to observe that “ninety percent of these defendants are probably no danger to society.”

The program is modeled after Project Exile, which originated in Richmond. Has it been a success in Virginia's capital?

Apparently not.

A recently released report evaluating the federally funded Project Safe Neighborhoods program in Virginia suggests that gun violence has risen steadily in Richmond since 2000.

The report, completed in January, also suggests that nearly two-thirds of Richmonders do not feel safer today than they did five years ago. And it concludes that six out of 10 city dwellers don't believe the aggressive media campaigns to raise awareness on gun violence have prevented people from carrying illegal firearms.

Do you feel safer now?