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TEEN DATING, STEROIDS, AND
GANG VIOLENCE
February
was a very busy month for my office. Much of our activity this month
related to topics in the news including steroids, domestic violence and
gangs. Having just celebrated Valentine’s Day, I think it is important to
recognize that although it is a holiday that signifies romance, there is
also a dark side. Around that time, there is usually an increase in
domestic disputes. Teen dating violence is important area of focus in my
office. It is an issue that affects millions of young people, and it is
essential to know how you can seek help if you are a victim.
The week of
February 6th was National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and
Prevention Week. There was a nation-wide effort to bring more public
awareness to a problem confronting many of today’s teens. My office,
through our Victims Services Unit, has implemented a campaign to teach teens
about warning signs and prevention methods. Our Teen Dating Violence
Program provides services to teens in Brooklyn to break the cycle of
violence through early intervention, advocacy, referral and school-based
community outreach. This program works in conjunction with the Youthful
Offender Domestic Violence Court (YODVC), a specialized court part for
defendants between the ages of 16 to 19 who have been arrested for partner
violence. Here are some signs to recognize if you are in an abusive
relationship:
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Your partner calls you throughout
the day “just to check in.”
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Your partner calls you names like
stupid, bitch, idiot, etc.
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Your partner tries to tell you who
you should or shouldn’t hang out with.
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Your partner tells you what you
can and can not wear.
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Your partner constantly pops up in
front of your school or workplace.
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You find yourself afraid to speak
your mind because you worry about what your partner will say or do.
Here are some hotlines
and other ways to seek help:
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Family Justice Center – Located in
the Brooklyn DA’s Office at 350 Jay Street on the 15th Floor.
Walk-
in hours are Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM.
They also have a 24-hour phone number
to call which is 718-250-5111.
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Victims Assistance Hotline –
1-800-247-8035
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NYC Youthline – 1-800-246-4646
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Domestic Violence Hotline –
1-800-621-HOPE
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Lifenet (counseling referral) –
1-800-LIFENET
Gang
violence continues to be a major problem in our community. We will never
reduce gang violence without community involvement. My office does a lot of
outreach to educate the community on this issue. For instance, we hosted a
Gangs Forum this month to educate parents and anyone else whose family has
been affected by gang violence, recruitment or truancy due to gang
membership. The goal of the forum was to inform parents and the rest of the
community about issues related to gangs and to offer assistance and
solutions to put an end to this gang violence. My office has taken major
steps to bring a resolution to this problem. I have implemented educational
workshops throughout Brooklyn, work with Major League Baseball to get stores
to stop selling gang paraphernalia and created Mothers Against Gangs, a
community group formed to put an end to gang violence. In addition, our
Gangs Bureau has done a terrific job in prosecuting gang members who were
arrested for various crimes including murders, assaults and robberies.
Illegal
steroid use was also a major topic this past month with reports detailing
steroids abuse among Major League Baseball players such as Alex Rodriguez.
It is tempting for any professional athlete to want to take steroids or
other human growth hormones because they want to be stronger or get a better
physique. But obviously there are many negative side effects and
consequences, which is why steroids are illegal. The fault does not lie
only on the person using the steroids, but also the doctors and pharmacies
that are illegally selling or prescribing the steroids. These are dangerous
substances that can cause heart damage and even death.
At a press
conference this month, I announced the indictment of a doctor, the health
clinic he operated and a Brooklyn pharmacy for illegally providing
bodybuilders and weightlifters with prescriptions for steroids and human
growth hormones, including one bodybuilder whom the doctor knew had a heart
transplant. That man later died from a condition related to his steroid
use.
In this case, the doctor, Dr. Richard Lucente,
provided patients with prescriptions for steroids and human growth hormones,
for a fee, when those patients had no medical need for the drugs. He would
then steer those patients to Lowen’s Drug Store, at 6902 Third Ave in Bay
Ridge. In exchange for directing business to Lowen’s, the pharmacy paid
Lucente almost $30,000 in kickbacks.
As always, I am committed to putting those
people behind bars who endanger the lives of others. By educating the
community and getting people in the community involved, it could make our
jobs a lot easier.
At
a press conference announcing indictments for illegal steroid distribution,
District Attorney Hynes is joined by (from left to right): Michael Vecchione,
Chief of the Rackets Division; Monique Ferrell, Chief Counsel to the Rackets
Division; Jacqueline Linares, Senior Appellate Attorney in the Rackets
Divison; and Chief Investigator Joseph Ponzi.
The news articles below may be of interest to you or members of your community.
The Post and Courier (Charleston)
S.C. Becomes Focal Point To Track Funds For
Gangs, Narcotics
South
Carolina’s political and military leaders fear that U.S. street gangs are
conspiring with international terrorists, an alarming scenario they said
highlights the need for a specialized unit that targets major drug runners
and their bankrollers.
And they
want the South Carolina National Guard to run the federally-funded pilot
program.
U.S. Reps.
Joe Wilson and Henry Brown, both Republicans, have asked U.S. Secretary of
Defense Robert Gates to back the creation of a military unit that would
bridge a perceived security gap between the international drug trade and the
war on terror.
http://www.charleston.net/news/2009/feb/08/on_mission71028/k
The Washington Post
Justice Dept. Defends Bush Rule on Guns
But
Interior Is Reviewing Measure, Which Allows Concealed Firearms in Parks
The Obama
administration is legally defending a last-minute rule enacted by President
George W. Bush that allows concealed firearms in national parks, even as it
is internally reviewing whether the measure meets environmental muster.
In a
response Friday to a lawsuit by gun-control and environmental groups, the
Justice Department sought to block a preliminary injunction of the
controversial rule. The regulation, which took effect Jan. 9, allows
visitors to bring concealed, loaded guns into national parks and wildlife
refuges; for more than two decades they were allowed in such areas only if
they were unloaded or stored and dismantled.
The three
groups seeking to overturn the rule -- the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence, the National Parks Conservation Association and the Coalition of
National Park Service Retirees -- have argued that the Bush administration
violated several laws in issuing the rule, such as failing to conduct an
adequate environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act.
They also argue that the new policy could deter some visitors, such as
school groups, from visiting national landmarks.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/16/AR2009021601151.htmlk |
