March 13, 2000

QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY RICHARD A. BROWN TESTIFIES BEFORE CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEES SEEKING FUND FOR CHILD ADVOCACY CENTER AND OTHER INITIATIVES, ALSO ASKS THAT ANTI-DRUG AND AIRPORT INVESTIGATIONS FUNDING BE RESTORED

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown testified this afternoon before the New York City Council's committees on Finance and Public Safety seeking the Council's assistance in funding, among other things, a Child Advocacy Center to improve coordination among the agencies involved in the investigation and prosecution of child abuse and child sexual abuse cases and to minimize victims' trauma. The District Attorney also asked the Council to restore monies for anti-drug and air investigations eliminated in his Office's Fiscal 2001 budget by the Mayor's Preliminary Budget.

District Attorney Brown said, "Our office is in the planning stages of a new pilot program to establish a Child Advocacy Center to improve the coordination and cooperation among the various agencies involved in the investigation and prosecution of child abuse and child sexual abuse cases. The Center, which has been successfully implemented in other locations, would bring together under one roof assistant district attorneys, detectives, representatives of the Agency for Childrens Services and Victims Services and medical personnel from the Long Island/North Shore Medical Center, assuring coordination among the agencies and, more importantly, helping to minimize the trauma experienced by child victims."

The District Attorney said that the participating agencies had all signed a preliminary agreement establishing the center and that the agencies were in the process of locating a suitable site for the Center. He also said that private funding was being sought but that "there exists no funding to hire assistant district attorneys and support personnel to staff the Center. We seek funding for two assistant district attorneys and two paralegals who can be located at and participate full-time in the work of the Center." About 2,000 reports of child abuse and sexual abuse are referred to the District Attorney's Office each year for investigation.

In addition to the $195,000 sought to staff the Child Advocacy Center, District Attorney Brown asked the City Council to restore $2.2 million in funds for existing programs that were eliminated in the Mayor's Preliminary Budget. The cuts fall in three essential areas: anti-drug funding that had been provided by the Council during the last two years, reimbursement for arrest case processing initiatives and monies that the Council has provided for the last eight years to support the District Attorney's Airport Investigations Unit.

District Attorney Brown said, "The Police Department's Drug Initiative, as expected, has increased the number of narcotics arrests from 1759 in 1997 to 3905 in 1999. In addition, as a result of NYPD's initiative, we have seen a 30% increase in requests for drafting search warrant applications - - to over 50 a month - since the initiative began. We urgently require additional funding to fulfill our prosecutorial responsibilities with regard to the cases generated by the NYPD initiative.

"Apart from the Police Department Initiative, recent investigations concluded by our Narcotics Investigations Bureau demonstrate how vital it is that proactive efforts to dismantle drug trafficking operations in our county be continued. During last year alone close to 1500 kilos - that is to say some 3300 pounds of cocaine were seized from big distributors. That is up considerably from prior years. In addition, long term investigations aimed at violent drug gangs and street initiatives, such as those in Southeast Queens, have driven the price of cocaine upwards. This has increased the incentive to bring larger shipments into the metropolitan area, divide them up and distribute them throughout the City in smaller batches. Now is not the time for the City to withdraw drug fighting funds from prosecutors."

Other initiatives for which District Attorney Brown sought the Council's help in funding are:

Enhancement of support services for crime victims

Expansion of the office's Youth Gang Bureau to prosecute violent crime committed by juvenile offenders.

 Increased resources for Witness Protection which is expected to cost the District Attorney's Office $475,000 in fiscal year 2001.

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