Monday, March 21, 2005

DISTRICT ATTORNEY RICHARD A. BROWN ASKS CITY COUNCIL TO RESTORE FUNDS LOST IN BUDGET CUTS

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown today addressed the City Council’s Public Safety Committee at City Hall and asked for their support to restore funds to his office lost in City budget cuts.

District Attorney Brown said, “Queens County led the City in crime reduction last year last year. This year, as the City and State’s fiscal outlook has improved and revenue has begun to increase, we look to you to give us the resources to fulfill our constitutional and statutory responsibilities –- and to continue to keep crime down.”

The District Attorney, noting that his office has already suffered cuts of almost 20% -- or nearly $6.0 million -- in City funding since July 2001, said, “It is time to restore the monies that have been taken from us. The budget reductions that we have suffered have pushed us to the point where our ability to maintain the gains of the last decade is in jeopardy.”

District Attorney Brown was joined in his testimony by the City’s other District Attorneys, Robert M. Morgenthau of Manhattan, Charles J. Hynes of Brooklyn, Robert T. Johnson of the Bronx and Daniel M. Donovan, Jr. of Staten Island, as well as by Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan.

The City Council took testimony today from the City’s prosecutors to help it respond to the Mayor’s Preliminary Budget for the coming fiscal year.

The District Attorney submitted a memorandum to the committees which analyzes the detrimental impact of the structural budget cuts imposed in the previous four years. The Mayor is preparing a proposed Executive Budget for Fiscal 2005 which begins July 1.

In his testimony District Attorney Brown stated, “Since September 11, 2001 our budget has been cut by nearly 20%. The most substantial cuts have been on the City level -- a 2.5% non-baselined cut in fiscal 2002; two separate baselined cuts of 7% and 3.75% in fiscal 2003 and in fiscal 2004 three additional baselined cuts of 2.5%, 3% and another 3%. My office alone has lost close to $6.0 million dollars in City funding since July 2001 –- and that loss has impacted greatly on my ability to provide the level of prosecutorial services to which the people of Queens County are entitled to expect.”

The District Attorney also requested funding to set up an Identity Theft and Financial Crimes Unit to combat financial exploitation of the elderly and to expand existing youth violence intervention and prevention initiatives.

In conclusion, District Attorney Brown told the Council Committee, “The bottom line is that we need you -- more than ever before -- to provide us with the resources necessary to allow us to continue to reduce the level of violence within our City and improve the quality of the lives of our residents.”