[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 78 (Thursday, May 27, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6280-S6281]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         DETROIT FREE PRESS ARTICLE ON GUN-RELATED PROSECUTIONS

  Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, I rise today to call attention to a 
Detroit Free Press article, published on Tuesday of this week, 
entitled, ``Federal gun cases decrease: Decline in Michigan greater 
than in U.S.'' This article notes that from 1993 to 1997, there has 
been a very significant decline in the number of gun prosecutions 
brought in Detroit.
  Mr. President, over the last two weeks, we in this body engaged in 
lengthy debate on the question of how effective or useful different 
proposals to regulate firearms were likely to be in stemming violent 
crime, most especially juvenile crime. I supported some of the 
proposals and opposed others. This article, however, brings home 
another important point raised in this debate: no matter what laws this 
Congress passes, their effect on violent crime will almost certainly be 
negligible if the Administration is not willing to use them to 
prosecute violent criminals. Unfortunately, the Free Press article 
provides little ground for optimism on this score.
  According to the Free Press, between 1993 and 1997 the number of 
people prosecuted in Detroit in cases investigated by the BATF dropped 
by 55%, compared with a 36% drop nationally. The Free Press also 
reports that there has been a nearly 50% decrease in prosecutions 
involving the three largest categories of federal gun laws, from 221 to 
112 respectively.
  When asked about this, U.S. Attorney Saul Green of Detroit reportedly 
stated that the decrease in prosecutions in the Eastern District of 
Michigan follows a downward trend in crimes. In fact, however, while 
there has been some improvement on that score, Detroit's violent crime 
rate has been falling significantly less than that of most large 
metropolitan areas, and it remains unacceptably high. Meanwhile, the 
much more dramatic decline of violent crime in Richmond, Virginia, 
where federal officials have pursued a policy of vigorous prosecution 
of gun offenders, strongly suggests that if the Administration were 
following the same course in Detroit, we would be doing better.
  As the Detroit Free Press article points out, police records show 
that there were 559 murders in Detroit in 1993, compared to 453 in 
1998. But that still left Detroit with the highest murder rate per 
capita for cities with a population of approximately one million or 
more--and the sixth highest among the U.S.'s 225 largest cities.
  Moreover, while in 1998 the rate of reported violent crimes decreased 
6% nationally, in Detroit it actually increased by 13%, according to 
FBI figures. Nor is this simply a one-year anomaly.
  In 1997, the number of murders in Detroit increased by 9% from 1996 
and Detroit's murder rate ranked 5th worst among the U.S.'s 225 largest 
cities. Meanwhile, our rate of serious crime decreased by only 1%, 
compared to a 3.2% decrease nationally. Similarly, in 1996, Detroit's 
rate of violent crimes decreased by only 3%, compared to a 7% decrease 
nationally.
  Nor is Detroit's relatively small numerical improvement explained by 
the fact that it is a major metropolitan area. To the contrary, it is 
mostly the biggest cities, like New York, that have seen the largest 
drops in crime rates over the past few years.
  The fact that Detroit is lagging behind the nation's improving 
violent crime rates, along with the fact that it is continually among 
nation's 5-7 worst cities with respect to its homicide rate, clearly 
indicates that this is no time for anyone in Detroit, including the 
federal government, to be relaxing our crime-fighting efforts. 
Meanwhile, recent data from Richmond, Virginia's Project EXILE strongly 
suggest that aggressive prosecution and severe punishment of gun law 
violations would be of major help. In 1998, the year following the 
implementation of Project Exile in Richmond, the homicide rate in 
Richmond decreased by approximately 1/3. The rate of firearm-related 
homicides in Richmond dropped even more--66%, from 122 in 1997 to 78 in 
1998.
  This takes me back to where I started. I voted in favor of several of 
the measures the Senate adopted last week because I believe that they 
can be useful tools in stopping gun violence. But quite simply, no gun 
laws, either those currently on the books or any new ones that Congress 
may enact, can be effective if the Attorney General does not enforce 
them through aggressive prosecution. The Detroit Free Press's article 
of two days ago confirms that right now, both in Detroit and 
nationally, aggressive prosecution is not what we are seeing. For our 
children's sake, it is high time for it to begin.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the full text of the 
Detroit Free Press article be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

              [From the Detroit Free Press, May 25, 1999]

                       Federal Gun Cases Decrease


                Decline in Michigan greater than in U.S.

                             (By Tim Doran)

       Federal gun law prosecutions declined sharply in the 
     eastern half of Michigan between 1993 and 1997.
       The number of people prosecuted in cases investigated by 
     the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms plummeted 
     55 percent. Nationally, prosecutions were down 36 percent, 
     according to data analyzed by the Free Press.
       For the three largest categories of gun law violations, the 
     number of people prosecuted in eastern Michigan dropped from 
     221 in 1993 to 112 in 1997.
       The analysis comes at a time when Congress is debating 
     legislation to tighten access to guns, and the state 
     Legislature is considering laws to make it easier to get a 
     concealed weapons permit.
       If the federal government wants to reduce gun crime, it 
     should enforce existing laws, said Dave LaCourse, public 
     affairs director for the Second Amendment Foundation, which 
     supports gun ownership.
       ``But the agency that's set up to put the screws to the bad 
     guy is almost being cut in half,'' LaCourse said.
       Last month, Wayne County and the City of Detroit sued gun 
     manufacturers and dealers, saying they used a strategy of 
     ``willful blindness,'' looking the other way when guns are 
     sold illegally. A sting by county law enforcement alleged 
     that nine of 10 dealers sold guns to people who indicated 
     they were buying on behalf of a minor or felon with them.
       Both U.S. Attorney Saul Green of Detroit and Special Agent 
     Michael Morrisey, head of the ATF in Michigan, dispute the 
     numbers from the Free Press study. The reports analyzed for 
     the study came from the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys 
     and are made public by the Transactional Records Access 
     Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University.
       ``The numbers have gone down,'' Green said. But he said he 
     does not accept the data the Free Press analyzed as 
     definitive.
       Green said that the decline follows a general downward 
     trend in crimes.
       For example, according to police records, Detroit had 559 
     homicides in 1993 and 453 in 1998.
       The increased use of local-federal task forces may play a 
     role in the decreased federal gun cases, he said. ``We have a 
     lot more cooperation than we had in the past and some of the 
     cases developed might go to local prosecution, rather than 
     federal.''
       Morrisey and ATF officials in Washington said the bureau 
     shifted its investigative strategy, targeting more serious 
     violators.
       The number of ATF investigators on the street declined both 
     nationally and in Michigan, and some of the remaining agents 
     have taken on added duties.

[[Page S6281]]

       The number of licensed gun dealers in the state has 
     dropped, from about 11,000 in the early 1990s to 2,498 as of 
     earlier this month, and violent crime is down.
       ``We're doing more with less,'' Morrissey said. ``I think 
     we're doing better quality with less, too.''
       And a program started in the last two months in Detroit 
     could reverse the downward trend. Operation Countdown hopes 
     to use tough federal gun laws to take felons caught with guns 
     off the streets.


                           reductions debated

       Green and Morrissey disputed TRAC's numbers, but reports 
     from other sources, including the ATF's national office in 
     Washington, show a drop in prosecutions.
       In March, U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., released figures 
     showing federal gun prosecutions under one program dropped 46 
     percent between 1992 and 1998.
       ``The senator's message is: We've seen a reduction in 
     violent crime rates overall,'' said his spokesman John Cox. 
     ``But not the reduction that we want. The effectiveness of 
     federal prosecution of gun crimes has got to be utilized.''
       ATF's own national figures show the number of cases the 
     bureau referred for prosecution to state and federal 
     prosecutors dropped by about 48 percent from 1993-1997, said 
     agent Jeff Roehm, chief of the public information division of 
     the ATF in Washington. Numbers for 1998 show a slight 
     increase.
       Between 1993 and 1997, the median prison term for those 
     convicted after investigation by the ATF stayed fairly 
     constant at around 30 months, which suggests if agents were 
     targeting more serious violators, they did not receive 
     greater prison time.
       ``We gather the facts and present them to the U.S. Attorney 
     for prosecution. It is up to the court to decide the 
     sentence,'' Morrissey said. ``And often times, the sentences 
     fall under guidelines enacted by Congress.''
       While the number of people prosecuted declined in eastern 
     Michigan, agents in the district referred more people for 
     prosecution in 1997 than in any other federal district. The 
     eastern district had a high number of referrals in 1993-1996 
     as well.
       The Eastern District of Michigan covers the eastern half of 
     the Lower Peninsula.
       In the Western District of Michigan, which covers the rest 
     of the state, the number of federal prosecutions fluctuated 
     but the annual totals were much less than in the east.
       If recent undercover investigations in Wayne County are an 
     indication, finding illegal gun sales would not be difficult.
       Between March 24 and April 14, undercover teams who told 
     gun dealers they were juveniles and convicted felons bought 
     weapons from nine out of 10 dealers.
       Morrissey, who took over ATF Michigan operations last 
     August, said his bureau can inspect gun dealers only once a 
     year unless the bureau has probable cause to suspect a crime.
       His figures show the number of cases referred to 
     prosecutors by the ATF in Michigan have fluctuated between 
     1993 and 1997 but remained fairly constant. They do show, 
     however, a downward trend in prosecutions.
       In the early 1990s, when the numbers were higher, the 
     bureau targeted more felons with guns, Morrissey said.
       ``Those are as easy as going out and picking blades of 
     grass,'' he said.
       But the number of guns on the street did not decline, 
     Morrissey said. The ATF began concentrating on licensed and 
     unlicensed dealers who supply guns illegally and violent 
     felons. One dealer can supply guns used in many crimes, he 
     said.
       The ATF has 33 fewer agents on the streets of Michigan this 
     year than it had in 1992, he said. And some of those agents 
     have more duties related to their specialized training in 
     arson and explosives.
       Some are assigned to state task forces, so the criminals 
     they help arrest might not show up in the ATF's statistics, 
     he said.
       The ATF also assigns agents to gang reduction programs in 
     schools, and the bureau investigates cigarette bootlegging, 
     arson fires and explosions, not just gun violations.


                          it works in richmond

       While the ATF has shifted its emphasis nationally away from 
     individual felons with guns, one city that strictly enforced 
     federal firearms laws saw a reduced murder rate.
       In Richmond, federal prosecutors began in March 1997 to 
     prosecute every gun case in the city of 200,000, said Jim 
     Comey, executive assistant U.S. attorney. Officials advertise 
     the tougher enforcement of Project Exile on billboards and 
     television, Comey said.
       ``We have been selling deterrence the way they usually sell 
     Wrangler jeans,'' he said.
       It has worked, Comey said. Defendants ask lawyers to stop 
     their cases from going ``Exile.'' When cops pat down suspects 
     on traffic stops, some say they are not stupid enough to 
     carry a gun.
       It has also helped change the murder rate. The city had 140 
     homicides in 1997 and 95 in 1998, he said. The number of 
     firearm-related homicides dropped from 122 in 1997 to 78 in 
     1998.
       Comey doesn't give Project Exile all the credit. Crack is 
     waning in popularity; the state abolished parole three years 
     ago, and drug enforcement has increased. He and others say it 
     should not be seen as the answer for every city, although 
     both gun-rights and gun-control advocates support it.
       Local and federal officials in Detroit have joined to start 
     a similar program. Operation Countdown, which began about two 
     months ago,is operating in a few precincts. Already eight 
     cases have been referred to federal prosecutors, said Bob 
     Agacinski, deputy chief in charge of career criminals for the 
     Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.
       He said the program, which involves the ATF and Detroit 
     police, has strong support from both Green and Wayne County 
     Prosecutor John O'Hair.
       ``I think it's going better than we thought,'' Agacinski 
     said.

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