Resources To Combat Emerging Crimes
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, joined by the city’s other District Attorneys-Robert T. Johnson of the Bronx, Cyrus Vance, Jr. of Manhattan, Charles J. Hynes of Brooklyn, and Daniel M. Donovan, Jr. of Staten Island-and Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan, last week urged the city to restore previous cuts to prosecutors’ budgets and fund new initiatives.
In testimony before the City Council’s Committee on Public Safety, Brown said that “while we have been able to make significant strides in stabilizing the District Attorneys’ budgets and in restoring- at least to some degree-the devastating cuts suffered by each of our offices following the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2011, we very much need your continued support to insure that we have the resources that we need to continue to rebuild and to fulfill our constitutional and statutory obligations.”
In discussing the fiscal challenges facing his office, Brown stated, “I think it is important to note that we still have a long road ahead of us as we begin the process of re-building. While we have received sorely needed baselined funding and will get a final infusion of monies in fiscal year (FY) 2014, it still will leave us about $2 million behind from where we started in fiscal year 2002-or the equivalent of about 30 new full-time attorneys.”
“We also anticipate that a good portion of the new funding that we are slated to receive in FY 2014 will be needed to address our continuing structural deficit in funding,” the district attorney added. “This is due to many factors, including the long term impact of the budget reductions that we have taken over the years; the loss of other available federal, state and local funding or grant streams; the redeployment of existing resources away from our core case processing mission to new initiatives undertaken at the request of the City, and, finally, to rising OTPS (‘Other Than Personal Services’) costs.”
Brown pointed out to the Council that there were quite a few new and emerging crime trends for which the office needed funding support. For example:
– Computer crimes programs to address the problem of identity theft, credit card and telemarketing scams and, in particular, to focus on the tremendous growth in Internet-based sexual exploitation of children;
– Youth anti-violence and anti-gun initiatives and other crime prevention initiatives targeting youth gang activity and its related crimes, including assaults, shootings, robberies and homicides.
– The growing problem of financial exploitation crimes-particularly those targeting the elderly, such as identity theft, credit card fraud, familial/ caregiver thefts and “sweetheart” swindles.
In conclusion, Brown told the Council, “The long term impact of the budget reductions that we have sustained since 9/11 will take time to reverse. And there will be many critical decisions and choices that we will be required to make as to how best to direct resources to meet both the demands of and staffing needs of our core functions, as well as the new challenges facing us.”
