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Making
A Difference Awards For Animal Cruelty, Lawyers’ Fund For Client
Protection, Haiti Donation, Safe Delivery Program
OPERATION
HELP HAITI
My office received international
attention in April thanks to a brilliant idea the detectives in our
Rackets Division came up with to deal with 125 thousand tons of clothing
we seized from illegal dealers in 2008 and 2009. The clothing; t-shirts,
sneakers, jeans and more, was sitting on a pier in Red Hook waiting, as
the law demands, to be burned. It was costing thousands of taxpayer
dollars just to have it sit there while making arrangements for its
destruction. Then detectives and prosecutors came to me with their plan
to ship the stuff to where it would actually do some good instead of
being destroyed. With the permission of the companies whose logos were
ripped off by the crooked dealers, such as Nike, Hugo Boss, Diesel and
others, we were able to get around the order to burn the clothes and
instead, with the help of a non-profit agency, ship it all to Haiti
where it is desperately needed to help clothe earthquake victims.
That is the type of innovative and
progressive thinking I encourage at my office. On the street in
Brooklyn, this bogus haul would fetch as much as $10 million. Instead of
being burned it is now serving to help people in real need. We are
looking into the possibility of doing the same in Brooklyn with goods
seized in the future.
The donated items were delivered to
Haiti by international relief agency World Vision and other
international humanitarian organizations, and Phoenix Beverage, Inc.
provided the space for the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office to store,
sort, and prepare the goods for transport.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE AWARDS
FOR ANIMAL CRUELTY
On April 23, I honored two
outstanding veterinarians with “Making a Difference Awards” in
recognition of the work that they do to protect animals from animal
cruelty. The honorees, Dr. Robert Reisman from the ASPCA (American
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and Dr. Brett Levitzke,
the Founder and Medical Director of VERG (Veterinary Emergency Referral
Group), have played significant roles in the investigation of animal
cruelty and forensic support that allows these cases to be effectively
brought and successfully prosecuted.
The protection of animals has
always been very close to my heart. As an animal lover myself, I find
it incomprehensible why people would hurt animals. But unfortunately,
it does happen and those people need to be held accountable for their
actions. My office aggressively investigates and prosecutes the crimes
of animal neglect, fighting and cruelty. We seek jail time for every
defendant convicted of felony animal cruelty or fighting.
As the ASPCA’s Humane Law
Enforcement program has expanded, Dr. Reisman has served as an
invaluable support to the animals under his care, receiving many
distinctions for his dedication, including the ASPCA’s Angel Award, the
2008 Veterinarian of the Year from the Veterinary Medical Association of
New York City, and the Maxwell Award from the Dog Writer’s Association
of America. He has been on the executive board of the Veterinary Medical
Association of New York City for ten years and in 2007 was Association
President.
Brooklyn has many unique programs,
and animal cruelty cases are handled in traditional criminal courtrooms
as well as a full service family/criminal court, the Red Hook Community
Court and our Mental Health Court. My office also works to prevent
animal cruelty through our training programs and project Legal Lives in
Brooklyn classrooms.
The
District Attorney’s Office handles cases of animal cruelty, fighting and
neglect each year. Just last year, we indicted two teens for torturing
and killing a cat by lighting it on fire. Both VERG and the ASPCA
assisted in the prosecution of Dudley Ramsay, who was convicted last
month for beating his dachshund puppy to death.
LAWYERS’ FUND FOR CLIENT
PROTECTION
I had served on the Board of
Trustees of the Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection for 27 years before
retiring in 2009, and I am proud to be honored by this terrific
organization as they dedicated their 2009 Annual Report in my honor.
The Lawyers’ Fund is an independent public trust in which all lawyers in
New York State make a contribution each year. It was set up to
reimburse victims from whom money was taken as a result of dishonest
conduct by lawyers. Common cases in which victims are duped out of
their money by lawyers include identity theft, mortgage fraud, and other
fraud cases. The legal industry is the only profession in which such
protection is provided to its clients.
I was recognized by the Lawyers’
Fund for my sense of duty and commitment to this great organization, our
legal profession and our justice system. I have fought tirelessly for
many years as the Kings County District Attorney to get restitution for
crime victims, some of whom have lost their life savings to greedy
attorneys who swindled them. Victims are supposed to be able to trust
their attorneys. In many cases, they sign legal papers at the advice of
their attorneys, unaware of what they are actually consenting to. This
is where they get into a lot of trouble, and it is why I advise everyone
to read all legal documents carefully before you sign them.
We have 253,000 registered lawyers
in New York State. Most of these lawyers are honest, caring and
trustworthy, however, there are always a small number of lawyers who
betray their clients’ trust. In 2009, 59 now suspended, disbarred or
deceased lawyers were responsible for client losses, which were
reimbursed by the Fund. In 2009, the Fund approved 139 awards to
clients, reimbursing them a total of $5.6 million for losses caused by
dishonest conducts of attorneys in NYS.
The Fund
has a website at
www.nylawfund.org, which is a good source for information about the
Fund and helpful advice for consumers and the legal community.
SAFE
DELIVERY PROGRAM
Food delivery service is a big
business all over Brooklyn. For many of us, if we don’t want to cook or
go out to dinner, we order in, whether it’s Chinese food or Italian
food, or some other cuisine. But we don’t stop to think about the
people who are delivering our food or what they have to go through, and
I’m not talking about small tips. I am referring to the dangers that
many of these delivery workers have to encounter. These innocent
workers are just doing their jobs when they get assaulted and robbed for
their food and money. In many cases, they go out alone, carrying money,
to areas that are not well-lit or they have to make deliveries late at
night. Just a few weeks ago, a 19-year old pizza deliveryman, Assami
Semde, was accosted as he tried to make a delivery in East Harlem, and
he fended off the gunman. It was a heroic action, although I wouldn’t
ordinarily advise someone to fight off an armed assailant.
In order to protect these workers,
I have joined Councilwoman Letitia James and the New York State
Restaurant Association (NYSRA) to announce the creation of the “Safe
Delivery Program”, equipping these workers with noisemakers and cell
phones that are programmed to call 911 in case of an emergency.
The pilot program will begin with
restaurants in Councilwoman James’ 35th District which
consists of Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, and parts of Crown Heights and
Prospect Heights, where there have been an alarming number of incidents
where delivery people have been assaulted and robbed. Due to the
attacks on delivery workers, some restaurants have even suspended their
takeout service because it is too dangerous. The plan is to expand the
program state-wide.
The “Safe Delivery Program” will
equip delivery people with patches for their hats, coats or bicycles so
that the public is aware that these employees are part of the program.
In addition, the NYSRA will provide delivery workers with cell phones
with a built-in GPS system. The phones will be programmed to call 911
in case of an emergency. They will also carry a noisemaker which is an
alarm worn on the wrist with a flashlight. When the noisemaker is
activated, it emits a loud, piercing sound of 130 decibels. One
advantage of these noisemakers is that it will distract offenders long
enough that these innocent victims will be able to flee or at least
notify police. In addition, participating restaurants will have
stickers in their windows, informing people that they are participants
in the program.
Hopefully,
the new Program will keep delivery workers safe and make potential
attackers think twice about trying to rob them.
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