Office Management + Staffing + Organization

How would you prioritize the different functions of the DA's office?

1: 1. How would you prioritize the different functions of the DA's office? [Internal office integrity]
2: 1. How would you prioritize the different functions of the DA's office? [Intake and processing]
3: 1. How would you prioritize the different functions of the DA's office? [Integration of social services]
4: 1. How would you prioritize the different functions of the DA's office? [Policy, legislative, and budget advocacy - city, state and/or federal]
5: 1. How would you prioritize the different functions of the DA's office? [Review of past convictions]
6: 1. How would you prioritize the different functions of the DA's office? [Investigations]
7: 1. How would you prioritize the different functions of the DA's office? [Public education]
8: 1. How would you prioritize the different functions of the DA's office? [Conviction rate]

How will you recruit staff?

• Post job listings on your own website, or relevant government sites
• Post job listings on hiring sites and news sites, for example: Idealist, Linkedin, etc
• Work with law schools and universities to create internships and pipelines for staff
• Employ hiring professionals who have previously focused on diversity recruitment.

What executive or managerial experience do you have that would aid in managing the DA's office? How would you handle managing and mentoring staff (both ADAs and administrative employees)?

I have managed large bureaus, including the following: a sex crimes and child abuse bureau including attorneys, detective investigators and support staff, a major narcotics and firearms trafficking bureau including attorneys, detective investigators and support staff, and a civil rights bureau including attorneys, designated detective investigators and support staff. When I began management of each, I assessed deficiencies and entirely reinvented the manner in which cases were being handled, with strong results. An example: I retrained all prosecutors and investigators interviewing children to ensure that they were asking non-leading, non-suggestive questions in a culturally competent and age-appropriate manner and developed a multidisciplinary approach to these ongoing investigations, and developed a state model for forensically sound and victim-supportive investigation of sexual assault cases.
My management philosophy is affirmative, encouraging employees to develop their public interest careers in a manner that allows them to invest not only in the office, but in the mission of sound and equal justice. I have been a mentor to many and have cultivated mentors for many others.

What do you believe is the role of DA in fostering within the office: a diverse workforce, opportunities for advancement, and work-life balance?

Encouraging self-care and professional self-fulfillment is critical to the success of a large office that serves the public interest. DA's offices have looked at employees and expendible/replaceable cogs in a wheel; in the Brooklyn DA's office under current management, that has resulted in record attrition and resulting instability that directly impacts those being served. Opportunities for advancement must be made available at all times, with the benchmarks for such advancement not trial numbers or conviction stats, but quality of results that reflect a commitment to equal justice.

How would you organize the office? Would you add, merge or eliminate any of the office's bureaus?

I would make several significant and immediate changes, to include:
a. Shifting of senior personnel and hiring of social services personnel to the critical screening stage immediately after arrest, to ensure that cases are properly charged (or not charged, i.e. broken windows offenses), that there is an identification of the factors that drove the criminal conduct (mental health, substance abuse, poverty, etc.) so that cases are immediately screened to access alternatives to incarceration, and to ensure that evidence consistent with innocence is discovered, considered and shared at the outset.
b. Dividing the sex crimes and child abuse work by breaking apart the current Special Victims Bureau, to ensure that personnel address the unique dynamics of these cases.
c. Dividing the Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau, which wrong-headedly lumps long-term firearms and narcotics trafficking investigations with gang cases, with their very unique and sensitive witness protection and support dynamics.

Would you utilize a horizontal or vertical system to bring cases, and why?

Particular Crimes + Law Enforcement

How will you balance the office's resources to maintain or increase rates of convictions or plea deals with focusing on the most serious and harmful cases?

Resources currently being wasted on low level, victimless offenses, which I will decline to prosecute, will be shifted to investment in smart resources to support investigation and prosecution of violent crimes, including hate crimes, sexual assaults, child abuse, domestic violence, homicide, hate crimes and police brutality. Conviction rates are not my concern; I am concerned about mounting prosecutions that have integrity.

 
How would you utilize prosecutorial discretion and selective enforcement to address quality of life cases, vehicular and biking incidents, and drug usage? What do you believe is proportionate and appropriate enforcement, and how would you achieve it?

My list of broken windows matters that I WILL not prosecute is large, including offenses driven by poverty (ex. turnstile jumping), offenses that disproportionately impact people of color (ex. possession of certain folding knives used for employment) and offenses that are unsound in light of public health concerns (ex. possession of hypodermic needles).

 
How will you utilize the DA's office to address public corruption and instill greater public confidence in NYC and NYS government and officials?

I will objectively and aggressively investigate and prosecute acts of public official corruption. I am beholding to no one and owe no one any favors.

 
Do you believe that racial bias is a problem in the the criminal justice system? If so, what would you do to address this issue?

Addressing this issue is my top priority. It will be addressed via my comprehensive post-arrest screening process, designed to identify bias issues impacting arrest. I will track and share with the public on a quarterly basis an analysis of proportionality in charging, plea offers and dispositions, to identify and correct institutional bias. An annual report will comprehensively document our finding and lay out our strategies to address these inequities as soon as possible.

 
How would you handle cases such as domestic violence, crimes against women and children, and human trafficking? What changes would you make to the office to ensure these cases are handled successfully?

Please see 5. above a it relates to crimes against women and children. I will address domestic violence proactively, partnering in communities to build safe houses and address the cultural dynamics that still impede reporting and safety. The human trafficking unit will no longer operate as a de facto "sex worker" unit, but rather focus on long-term investigations targeting true traffickers; this becomes more critical than ever as the US Attorney's Office shifts its focus under Sessions' unsound leadership.

Community Interaction

What do you think is the role of the DA's office in connecting individuals who come through the the office to social services? How and when would you provide this link, if at all?

Absolutely, I will! One of the greatest deficiencies of the current administration is the complete absence of the DA's office in the community. Community offices will be created in locations, as identified in partnership with community leaders, where folks are likely to access services most directly and easily. Community partnerships will play a huge role in cultivating alternatives to incarceration, the reporting of victimization directly to KCDA for those who are afraid or reluctant to report to NYPD and providing risk-reduction strategies for vulnerable populations, including the differently abled.

 
What is your perspective on community courts - their efficacy, impact, and growth? As DA, how would you interact with community courts?
Community courts, or rather community justice centers, are vital. The Red Hook Justice Center needs to reevaluated to ensure compliance with original objectives, the developing Brownsville Justice Center needs to be supported and driven by the DA's office in a way that it is not, and the development of justice centers in other communities where they are sorely needed must commence.
 
Undocumented immigrants and their communities may be concerned about interacting with those working in the criminal justice system, because of fear that it would negatively impact immigration status. How would handle working with this community?

Please see 12. above. One of my programs, Project Safe Here, will encourage those who have been victims of or witnesses to crime who fear adverse immigration consequences to access the DA's office directly for reporting and support, alleviating fear that information provided to NYPD will be used against them. During our comprehensive, post-arrest/pre-charging case screening, potential immigration consequences will be identified and considered in charging decisions. These are just two of the proactive initiatives I will be advancing to ensure that we are truly operating as a sanctuary city.