The Police Department and the city's Department of Information, Technology and Telecommunications have recently upgraded the 911 system -- making tapes of the calls easier for police to retrieve and to be played in court during a suspect's first court appearance.
Under the analog system, 911 recordings were located manually. The process of tracing, retrieving and transferring the calls to cassette tapes took an average of three months. That would occasionally leave prosecutors with little evidence during bail hearings and requests for orders of protection -- particularly if the victim did not testify.
"The prosecutors will now be able to play a domestic violence victim's cry for help in open court at the batterer's first court appearance," said Bloomberg. "This evidence will graphically illustrate the dangers faced by the victim and assist the judge in making these important initial rulings."
The program will be tested in Brooklyn for the next 90 days before going citywide, said Bloomberg.
Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said the tapes will provide crucial evidence for prosecutors who often have little proof to offer judges when they seek high bail or orders of protection.
"Often at the arraignment, we don't have any evidence except the battered body of the victim, and sometimes she's not available to testify," said Morgenthau. "Having this 911 tape available, often when the violence is in progress, will be of tremendous value in getting bail fixed and getting an order of protection."
The tapes will be made available for other reported crimes as well.
In November, the city will embark on an advertising campaign in which posters will be placed on subways and in buses that remind people that domestic violence is a crime.
The city also was hosting a domestic violence summit Tuesday featuring prosecutors from San Antonio, Chicago, Seattle, Miami and the Department of Justice.
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