Growing up in Brooklyn, animals were a big part of my life.  My grandparents had a stable of horses and I raised my own children with our family dog.  But as a child, I also witnessed domestic violence in my home.  Later in life, I learned that animal abuse can be a precursor to domestic violence.  When I became Brooklyn’s District Attorney in 1990, I brought the full weight of my Office to the fight against violence.

Because family violence reaches every member of the household including our pets, I created individual bureaus dedicated to battling Domestic Violence, Child Abuse and Elder Abuse and an Animal Crimes Enforcement Unit  - each headed by an executive in my Office.  My staff works collaboratively to combat the violence that touches both our human and animal victims.

We aggressively investigate and prosecute the crimes of animal neglect, fighting and cruelty.  We seek jail time for every defendant convicted of felony animal cruelty or fighting.  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. 

Crime prevention is the cornerstone of my administration and prevention of animal cruelty is fundamental to the prevention of other violence.  In 1995, we began a Task Force that includes representatives from all NYC District Attorney’s Offices as well as the NYPD, Animal Care and Control, the ASPCA and other organizations.  In 1990, I initiated a program in Brooklyn schools to educate children about the dangers of drugs and violence.  That program, Choices and Consequences, has now been taught in thousands of classrooms and includes lessons in humane education.  Therapy dogs have accompanied our staff into classrooms as we reviewed the law and proper treatment of animals.

In addition to classroom education, we hold training programs on the link between human and animal violence, evidence preservation, making a prosecutable case and NY cruelty and fighting laws for law enforcement, rescue groups, social service organizations, attorneys and the public.  We have a newly certified therapy dog that also works with our crime victims, offering support, patient listening and unconditional affection.  While we often see the worst of human–animal encounters, we seek to show the best of the human-animal bond.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and to celebrate, numerous buildings throughout the state were illuminated in purple including the Empire State Building, Brooklyn Borough Hall and the Con Edison Building as well as several bridges, statues and Niagara Falls.  In addition, as part of the “Shine the Light on Domestic Violence” campaign, many people across New York State wore purple in dedication to the fight against domestic violence.  The color purple symbolizes the courage of domestic violence survivors, and raises awareness about the prevalence and harm of domestic violence.

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.

We have taken many steps to reduce domestic violence in our county.  I was the first District Attorney in the nation to create a separate bureau to prosecute domestic violence crimes.  We implemented the city’s first Family Justice Center, an all-in-one center where domestic violence victims can seek help and receive a wide range of services under one roof, and we created various other programs designed to help keep domestic violence victims safe.  In fact, last week, Verizon donated cell phones to our Domestic Violence Bureau as part of our A.W.A.R.E. program.  4006 used cell phones were donated to the Verizon Wireless Hopeline program.  The phones are collected by my staff and given to Verizon Wireless to reprogram them as Hopeline phones with 3000 prepaid minutes.  They are then given to various law enforcement and outreach agencies who will distribute the phones to domestic violence victims.  The phones are programmed to call 911 in case of an emergency.  The A.W.A.R.E. (Abused Women’s Active Response Emergency) program was created to help protect abused women by initially giving them emergency necklace pendants and electronic security systems to alert the police in case of danger. 

SAFETY TIPS FOR HALLOWEEN

Halloween is a festive holiday, especially for kids, but it can also be a scary one.  What kid doesn’t like to go trick or treating and get free candy?  But you have to be careful.  Besides all the scary costumes, people throwing eggs or spraying others with shaving cream, there is also the concern about being attacked or biting into candy that might be dangerous to eat.  Here is a list of safety tips for you to pass on to your children and other friends and relatives to help make Halloween a safer celebration:

• Do not eat unwrapped candy.
• Let all treats be inspected by an adult before eating them.
• Do not “trick or treat” alone.
• Avoid hallways and deserted areas that are dimly lit.
• Do not enter a stranger’s home or car.
• Obey traffic rules.
• Walk on the sidewalk and not in the street.
• Do not wear costumes that block your view.
• Do not wear clothing or accessories that suggest you are affiliated with a gang.
• Carry flashlights and wear reflective clothing at night.
• Do not wear costumes that make it difficult to walk.
   

The news articles below may be of interest to you or members of your community.

USA Today

In A Switch, Police Invite Scrutiny Of Racial Profiling

The live-ammunition exercise, confined to the department’s shooting range, is part of a growing body of research and training in nearly a dozen law enforcement agencies across the country aimed at eliminating persistent racial profiling by police. Researchers are examining virtually all facets of police behavior, from officers’ interactions with new immigrants to car stops and the use of lethal force. More unusual, criminal justice analysts say, is that police officials are inviting the increased scrutiny, representing a generational change in law enforcement in a country that is now 34% minority.

If the July White House “beer summit” was supposed to offer a simple teaching moment after the high-profile arrest of a black Harvard scholar by a white Cambridge, Mass., officer, the research in Denver and elsewhere could provide some of the most instructive case studies on the intersection of race and law enforcement, some police analysts say.

“Law enforcement’s willingness to confront issues of race represents a huge shift in modern policing,” says Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a law enforcement think tank. “I think you would be hard-pressed to find another institution in America more challenged by race than police. Coming out of the civil rights era, most departments were viewed (by minority communities) as occupying armies.”

Wexler is leading a review of the Cambridge Police Department’s role in the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates and convened the first meeting of a special panel there last week.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-10-19-profiling_N.htm

The Washington Post

House Votes to Add Sexual Orientation to Law on Hate Crimes

The House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill that would broaden the definition of federal hate crimes to include attacks based on sexual orientation, legislation that would bring major changes to a law enacted in the days after the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Civil rights groups and their Democratic allies have come close to expanding the hate crimes bill several times in the past decade, but have always fallen short because of lack of House-Senate coordination or opposition from former President George W. Bush.

But this time it appears they may succeed. The bill was attached to a must-pass $680 billion defense policy bill that the Senate could approve as early as next week. President Obama, unlike his predecessor, has promised to sign it into law.

www.brooklynda.org

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