|
FAMILY JUSTICE
CENTER’S FIFTH ANNIVERSARY, INDICTMENTS IN LATIN KINGS ARSON CASE,
ANIMAL FIGHTING
On July 27, we celebrated the fifth anniversary of
our Family Justice Center, an all-in-one center where domestic violence
victims can receive an array of services under one roof. The event
celebrated Center’s success, with a record of 32,806 clients who have
visited on at least one occasion, since its opening in 2005.
Domestic Violence has always been an issue that is
close to my heart, as my mother, Regina Drew, was a victim of domestic
violence. When it opened, in 2005, the Family Justice Center was
dedicated to her memory.
Domestic Violence is a far too prevalent problem.
According to the Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, Police
in New York State respond to nearly half a million calls for assistance
for domestic violence, and more than 15,000 adults and children use
emergency shelters each year.
When I became District Attorney, one of the first
initiatives that I wanted to implement was setting up a domestic
violence bureau that prosecutes offenders vigorously and also assists
the victims of domestic violence in as many ways as possible. Toward
that end, in 2005 we collaborated with the Mayor’s Office to Combat
Domestic Violence to open the city’s first “Family Justice
Center”.
The Family Justice Center is located on the 15th
floor of my office’s headquarters at 350 Jay Street. It provides a safe,
welcoming environment where those who are affected by domestic violence
can access a wide array of services. These include counseling; legal
information on immigration and family court matters, including how to
obtain an order of protection; access to shelter and housing; assistance
in filing police reports; safety planning; and services for the elderly
and disabled. Because children are usually the most helpless victims of
domestic violence, the Center offers a full-service children’s program,
where children play comfortably in a bright room, called Margaret’s
Place, while their mothers receive assistance. It is funded by Joe
Torre’s Safe at Home Foundation and named for his mother, a domestic
violence victim. On-site childcare is provided for mothers who bring
their children with them to the Center. Before the Center opened,
victims had to travel to numerous agencies to receive these services.
Clients visiting the Center have the opportunity to meet with advocates
from various service organizations. Representatives from government
agencies are also there to provide assistance, in addition to lawyers
from legal support organizations. Advocates speak several languages and
represent diverse cultures. Spiritual support from many religious groups
is also available.
Since opening in 2005, the Center has had 68,833 total client visits and
5,987 total visits by children to Margaret’s Place. Over the five years,
the client visits have increased. For the month of June, there were
1,805 client visits and 159 visits to Margaret’s Place.
LATIN KINGS ARSON CASE
Gang violence is a serious problem in our
community, because gang members believe they run our neighborhoods and
would like to make our streets dangerous to walk. They thrive on
criminal activities, from vandalism and drug dealing, to robberies and
assaults, to rapes and murder. And it is evident that if you commit a
crime against a gang member, the gang will retaliate. This was the
motive for a recent crime which resulted in my office indicting 18 Latin
Kings gang members.
On July 21, we announced the takedown of the Latin
Kings street gang’s “Borough Park Homicide Squad” sub set – including
the set’s entire leadership structure – on charges they set fire to two
Borough Park apartments, in an attempt to kill a former gang member. My
office’s Gang Bureau did a tremendous job, along with the New York
Police Department and New York Fire Department in investigating and
solving this crime.
One gang member, Juan Kuang, had been “stripped” of
his Latin King status, over disagreements with the Borough Park Homicide
Squad’s leaders. In retaliation, Kuang was charged with stabbing gang
member Norman Vado, the brother of the gang’s leader, or “First Crown”,
Roger Vado. According to the indictment, Roger Vado and the Borough Park
Homicide Squad members then set the fires in retaliation for Norman
Vado’s stabbing. The were charged with making Molotov cocktails, by
filling glass iced-tea bottles with gasoline, and on two separate
occasions, the gang members threw these Molotov cocktails at two
different Borough Park homes, where they believed Kuang was living at
the time. One building, a multi-family unit where young children and an
elderly woman lived, was completely destroyed. The other targeted
building was an apartment complex, of which the exterior, rear wall was
scorched and damaged. Fortunately, nobody was injured in either fire.
Ten of the gang members are charged with Arson in
the First Degree, and all of the gang members are charged with
Conspiracy in the Second Degree. For his part in the events, Kuang is
charged with Attempted Murder in the Second Degree. If convicted, we
will seek the maximum penalty for each of these defendants.
My Gang Bureau does tremendous work, not only in
prosecuting crimes, but prosecutors frequently attend outreach events
and activities throughout Brooklyn. They speak to parents, educators,
and community leaders about gang symbols and rituals and how to keep
children out of gangs. They also speak to children about the dangers of
gang affiliation and how to avoid gang recruitment.
ANIMAL FIGHTING
Summer is here and as we sit on the stoop or open
the windows to catch a breeze, we hear all the sounds of the
neighborhood: the happy sounds of children playing in an open hydrant or
sprinkler, ballgames in the park and the ice cream trucks that seem to
be everywhere. Unfortunately, sometimes, in the distance, is the
horrifying, violent sound of animals fighting. From around the
corner, from the building down the block, or from the park is the
frightening sound of voices yelling, cocks crowing and dogs snarling as
they are forced into the inhumane and illegal act of fighting each
other. To combat this brutal pastime, my office has launched an
initiative, Brooklyn Bites Back, to raise awareness that people do
attend and organize animal fights in our community.
Animal fighting is not “sport”. It is brutal
cruelty and it is a serious crime. Training, breeding or intentionally
causing animals to fight is a Class-E Felony in New York State,
punishable by up to four years in prison and a $25,000 fine. Attending
an animal fight and placing a bet – or just paying for admission, is a
misdemeanor – punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Federal laws also apply to animal fighting. Transporting an animal
between states for fights is a Federal Felony, punishable by up to three
years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
My Office has prosecuted offenders who have fought
roosters (or “cocks”) and fought dogs, as well as those who house, keep
and train them for future fights. Training animals to fight involves as
much viciousness as the fight itself – smaller dogs and cats are bound
and thrown to dogs as practice bait; roosters are surgically altered and
have body parts removed; those who lose meet a terrible fate.
In my 20 years as District Attorney, we have worked
with the community and law enforcement to investigate tips provided by
the public. We follow up with our own surveillance to make a case. Help
me end animal fighting in Brooklyn. If you see or hear anything that
sounds like animal fighting, if you see animals with wounds from
fighting, if you hear about a fight being planned, please give us a call
and give us the details. My Office will do the work and all of our
communities will be safer and healthier.
|
