FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 2, 2000

SYRACUSE RECEIVES FEDERAL FUNDING, PROSECUTOR TO IMPLEMENT PROJECT EXILE

Schumer Fulfills Promise to Help Onondaga County Prosecute Gun Crimes

Fulfilling a promise he made to Syracuse one year ago, US Senator Charles E. Schumer, along with US Attorney Dan French and Onondaga County District Attorney William FitzPatrick, today announced that Syracuse will receive funding and a new Assistant United States Attorney to implement Project Exile, the program that enforces strict sentencing guidelines for illegal gun possession.

"A year ago, almost to the day, I promised to fight to win funds for Syracuse to implement one of the most innovative and effective federal law enforcement efforts on the books," said Schumer. "Today I am here to announce that we have won. Syracuse will receive its first federal grant to implement SAFE - a major law enforcement initiative that will put criminals who use guns behind bars for a long time."

On March 30, 1999, Schumer announced that he would make a major push in Congress to secure federal funding to include Syracuse in Project Exile, which has bipartisan support and has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association. In August, Schumer was in Syracuse to announce that the program would be instituted there. Syracuse recently began implementing its version of the program, called Project SAFE (Strategically Applied Firearms Enforcement).

"For years, all across the country, we have virtually ignored illegal gun runners who sell weapons to criminals on our streets and we have never used tough federal statutes to prosecute those who illegally possess a gun while committing a crime. That is about to change in Syracuse," said Schumer.

The Northern District of New York, which includes Syracuse and Albany, will receive approximately $500,000 over two years to hire two Assistant U.S. Attorneys+ for the dedicated purpose of prosecuting gun crimes. In addition, the District will receive $75,000 for state and local overtime, contract employees and training; up to $75,000 for firearms campaign publicity; and can apply for funding for programmatic researchers.

"Based on its success in Rochester and other cities, I have touted Project Exile as a national model and have tried to convince the Justice Department to expand it nationwide," said Schumer. "This is one of the few programs where gun rights and gun control advocates see eye to eye and it is an effective deterrent against gun crimes."

Project Exile is a collaboration between local police, the District Attorney, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) and the US Attorney's Office to put criminals behind bars longer and get illegal guns off the street. Working together, federal and local officials determine whether to use federal or state guidelines to ensure the toughest punishment possible for gun crimes. Prosecutions under Project Exile can add 2 to 4 years to a criminal's sentence, and the program has also been used to deny bail in three-fourths of the cases where the project has been involved.

"SAFE will serve as a model for cities throughout the nation who want to emanate Syracuse's success in fighting gun crime," said Schumer.

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