Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Special Victims Division

Special Victims Division

  • Gender Violence is on the Manhattan DA Ballot

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    Voters voting (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    New Yorkers are choosing the next Manhattan District Attorney, who will profoundly shape prosecutions of gender-based violent crimes like sexual assault, domestic violence, trafficking, stalking, and hate crimes targeting women of color. It is essential that the next Manhattan DA combat the scourge of mass incarceration of non-violent offenders, and at the same time combat the under-prosecution of violent and predatory gender-based crimes. In the U.S., 49 out of 50 ...

  • NYPD Pushes Back Against Calls to Reform Special Victims Division

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    NYPD reps at Monday's hearing (photo: @NYCCouncil)


    At a tense oversight hearing examining the NYPD's response to sex crimes on Monday, the NYPD opposed all four bills introduced by the City Council in response to a Department of Investigation report released two weeks earlier.

    The bills seek to require evidence-based models to determine staffing levels for the Special Victims Division, more training for sex crimes detectives, and a digital, searchable case management system for the SVD.

    On March 27, following a year-long

    ...