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“In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups - the police, who investigate crime and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders.”
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Quoting the opening voice-over of the popular television series “Law and Order,” City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Councilman Peter F. Vallone, Jr. have joined in calling for the restoration of funding for the city’s five district attorney offices.
In response to the city’s economic downturn following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the five district attorneys lost over $37 million of the funding according to Quinn and Vallone. “Our District Attorneys have performed admirably and have even increased prosecutions that bring in money,” they pointed out.
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New York has become the safest big city in America, and it keeps getting safer. Violent crime decreased here by 2.8% in 2005 - a drop of nearly six times the national average.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the City Council are putting more police officers on the streets to ensure that crime decreases continue but our district attorneys must have the resources they need to promptly prosecute offenders.
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Now that the City’s economy has recovered, it is time to give the district attorneys back the resources they need. Quinn and Vallone point out that police officers are apprehending criminals at a rate that far exceeds the rate of prosecution. “There is no advantage to arresting more suspects if our district attorneys don’t have the resources they need to prosecute them,” they said.
Quinn and the Council are calling for over $20 million to be restored to the five district attorney offices.
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With child abuse cases increasing, the Council is also calling for an additional $3 million in funding for more personnel in the child abuse units in all district attorneys’ offices. “District attorneys deserve a lot of credit for making this a city of law and order. We must ensure that they have the tools they need to do their jobs,” Quinn and Vallone said.
The Queens Courier agrees with these wise political leaders.
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E-ZPass Fee Is Gone
We salute Assemblyman Mark Weprin, who was a driving force in the legislative effort to eliminate the monthly $1 E-ZPass fee that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) imposed on its customers last year.
The fee disappears on June 1, and we say good riddance!
