Charles J. Hynes for District Attorney, Kings County

At District Attorney's Office, A Unique and Effective Approach to Crime

Strong Social Awareness Instrumental in Special Programs and Initiatives

By Samuel Newhouse
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
October 3, 2008

JAY STREET - Crime rates in Brooklyn have dropped by enormous amounts in the past two decades due to a confluence of factors, changing what was once considered a dangerous borough into a place that is thriving socially and economically.

Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes would never take credit personally for these overwhelmingly positive developments towards safety for citizens and families. However, the D.A.'s Office has developed effective strategies of crime prosecution that demonstrate real social awareness and forward thinking on how to deal with the roots of crime.

These strategies take the form of two significant arms of the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office.

One consists of the programs focused on helping to rehabilitate criminals or those on the path to serious crime, and the other consists of the social programs focused on protecting victims of crimes and helping show them how to change their lives for the better, centered in the Family Justice Center.

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Internet Safety for Our Children

The District Attorney has established a team of specially-trained Assistant District Attorneys to educate parents and students about the dangers that our children face in the new, global Internet. Our team has developed an interactive program for use in elementary schools, using original material as well as material developed by NetSmartz, part of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The first component of this is a series of in-school seminars. In April 2008, a pilot program was established and a partnership made with the New York City Department of Education, Community Education Council District 15, and the District 15 Parent Advocate and Superintendent. The program will be duplicated throughout Brooklyn, so that each Community Education Council will be able to partner with the District Attorney's office to provide Internet safety seminars for both students and parents.

As the first phase of this plan, specialist Assistant District Attorneys will be organizing events at Middle and Public School classes throughout District 15 in Red Hook, Carroll Gardens, Windsor Terrace, Gowanus, Boerum Hill, Prospect Heights, and Park Slope.

Internet Safety for Kids: Guidelines for Parents

Most importantly, keep the computer in a common family room, not a child's bedroom.
Spend time with your children online. Have them teach you about their favorite online destinations.
Make sure your children understand not to give out any personal information online. That includes not just in chat rooms, but also on any web site, including social networking sites or their own home page.
Talk to children about what to do if they see something that makes them feel scared, uncomfortable, or confused. Show them how to turn off the monitor and emphasize that it's not their fault if they see something upsetting. Remind children to tell a trusted adult if they see something that bothers them online.
Harassment is harassment, online or off. If someone is engaging in illegal activity involving your children, such as threatening their safety or exposing them to unnecessary danger, they may be in violation of the law. Do not erase any offensive material until you report it to the local police. Do so as soon as possible.

Meeting the Challenges of Keeping Brooklyn Safe

It is a privilege to serve the Borough of Brooklyn as District Attorney. I am proud of the significant role my office has played in assuring that New York City remains one of the safest cities in the nation in which to raise a family and earn a living.

Working with the best police department in the world, we have struck at the drug trade that tears down neighborhoods. We have stood up for civil rights by prosecuting those who would attack others just for their ethnicity, religious beliefs, or sexuality. And we have compiled an unprecedented record in pursuing official corruption: under my watch two Supreme Court judges and a County political leader have been sent to prison for crimes of greed and deceit.

But my office is also at the forefront of programs that address the root causes of crime. Our partnerships with community-based resources such as churches, synagogues, mosques, schools, and even senior citizen centers, have resulted in alternative-to-prison, re-entry, and mental health initiatives that are as important in fighting crime in the 21st century as the cop on the beat.

These programs, as successful as they have been, encourage me to be even more innovative in achieving even lower crime statistics. I hope you will share your feedback about the needs of your community, and your own personal feelings about how the District Attorney can meet those needs. We have set up a special feedback form here.

Thank you,
Charles J. Hynes
Kings County District Attorney

Since District Attorney Hynes took office in 1990:

Murder decreased 72%
Rape decreased 69%
Robbery decreased 79%
Burglary decreased 82%
Felony assault decreased 63%
Grand larceny decreased 42%
Auto theft decreased 91%

Truancy Reduction Alliance to Contact Kids (T.R.A.C.K.)

In response to the link between juvenile delinquency and daytime crime, District Attorney Hynes, in cooperation with public and parochial schools and local police commanders, has set up a comprehensive approach to truancy. The truancy program, Truancy Reduction Alliance to Contact Kids (T.R.A.C.K.), was started in 1998 as a pilot program.

The pilot produced such a response that T.R.A.C.K. has now grown from two Truancy centers to seven. The truancy program's goal is to make students responsible and parents accountable for attendance.

Truant students are taken by police officers to central locations staffed by police, New York City Board of Education School Safety Officers and attendance teachers and social workers and other staff member from the District Attorney's Office.

Schools are contacted and asked to provide attendance records and family contact phone numbers. A parent or guardian is called to pick up the truant student. When parents pick up a student, they are given a letter advising them of their obligations as parents to ensure their children's regular school attendance.

Parents whose children are chronic truants may be asked to attend a meeting with program staffers for information about their duties under the law involving diligence and educational neglect. If no parent is available, the School Safety Division will return the child to the school. Parents will also be provided with information about local community service agencies which specialize in family situations.

In 2000, former Mayor Giuliani praised the T.R.A.C.K. program in his State of the City Address and called for its replication citywide. There are now T.R.A.C.K. centers located in all five boroughs.

Youth and Congregation in Partnership

In 1997, District Attorney Hynes worked with Community Counseling & Mediation and the faith communities of Brooklyn and instituted Youth and Congregation in Partnership (YCP).

YCP provides adult mentors for high-risk, court involved youths in Brooklyn. Volunteers are recruited from Brooklyn's many faith communities and trained for their mentoring role. To qualify for this program, the participating youth must be between 13 to 22 years of age and have no pattern of violent crimes or serious mental illness. Although a few chronic truants have been accepted into the program, the majority of the youth are charged with felony crimes and are placed in the program as an alternative sentence.

Legal Lives

Soon after assuming office in 1990, District Attorney Hynes founded the LEGAL LIVES program, which brings the criminal justice system into Brooklyn's fifth-grade classrooms. The program is an outgrowth of the District Attorney's belief that lasting crime reduction can only be achieved when the same emphasis that is placed on arrest and prosecution is also placed on education and prevention.

Assistant district attorneys work with teachers to present a biweekly curriculum that was written to increase the students' knowledge of the law and to prevent juvenile delinquency through the development of critical and analytical thinking skills. The students role-play the facts of actual cases, consider the motivations which might underlie various types of unlawful behavior, learn elements of the law pertinent to their age group, and come to understand that for the common good, all citizens are obliged to live within a system of laws.

Today LEGAL LIVES is reaching over 7,500 students in over 250 Brooklyn classrooms. The lessons taught in the classroom have been enhanced by a number of other features, including an interactive weekly
radio show ("Ask the DA" on Wednesdays from 4:00 to 5:00 P.M. on WNYE-FM, 91.5), court visits and an end-of-year mock trial competition.

LEGAL LIVES has been replicated by district attorneys across the country in cities such as Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco and in several upstate New York counties.

Domestic Violence

The Domestic Violence Bureau was created at the direction of District Attorney Hynes in 1990, in order to give special attention to domestic violence cases and make special programs available to domestic violence victims.

The Domestic Violence Bureau receives, screens and evaluates all felony and misdemeanor domestic violence cases in the office. The Bureau prosecutes all felony domestic violence cases (including most domestic violence homicides) and all serious domestic violence misdemeanor cases.

Over its 10 years of existence, the Domestic Violence Bureau has established a core group of experienced and committed trial attorneys and managers who have developed an expertise in the prosecution of domestic violence cases. The expertise developed by our trial attorneys has translated into a very high conviction rate maintained on both the felony and misdemeanor levels.

In addition to the creation of the bureau, the Kings County District Attorney's office has also dramatically increased its ability to offer supportive services to victims of domestic violence. Today the office has a staff of 25 victim advocates (social workers and counselors) who work with the victim advocates of Safe Horizon.These advocates provide psychological and emotional support to domestic violence victims, while also helping them to obtain social service benefits, childcare, medical assistance and relocation to a safe environment.

Senior Affairs and Elder Abuse

District Attorney Hynes is dedicated to educating and protecting the senior citizens of Brooklyn.

To demonstrate his commitment, he created the Senior Affairs Bureau in 1992 in which specially trained Assistant District Attorneys prosecute criminals that prey on senior citizens. The Senior Affairs Bureau prosecutes cases such as mortgage fraud, home healthcare aide fraud, public utility imposter robbery, identity theft and financial fraud.

District Attorney Hynes has also established an Elder Abuse Unit within the Domestic Violence Bureau which concentrates on crimes of physical abuse where senior citizens are victims.

Prevailing Wage

District Attorney Hynes is vigilant in the prosecution of "prevailing wage" crimes. Working closely with the New York City Comptroller's Office, the Kings County District Attorney's office has recovered, since 1997, more than $3 million in restitution from companies found in violation of the prevailing wage laws. That money was returned to the workers who earned it.

A Prevailing Wage is set when a government agency enters into a contract with a private contractor for services. That private contractor then agrees to pay its workers a certain minimum wage. A prevailing wage crime is committed when the private contractor does not pay the correct amount to the workers. Often, the workers are unaware that they are being cheated. This crime hits working people in the pocketbook and defrauds taxpayers.

The prevailing wage is different from the minimum wage, which is set by state law at $5.15 an hour. Prevailing wages vary from contract to contract and workers should know what they are supposed to be paid. Companies caught in violation are also usually banned from further city contracts for a period of time.

District Attorney Hynes is adamant that contractors alleged to be cheating on the prevailing wage are prosecuted under the full force of the law. If a worker feels his or her employer is cheating on the prevailing wage he or she should contact the Office of the Kings County District Attorney.

DTAP (Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison Program)

In 1990, District Attorney Hynes created to Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison Program (DTAP) on the premise that treatment would better prepare defendants to resist drugs and crime upon their return to society then if they had spent a comparable time in prison at nearly twice the cost.

The program targets drug-addicted defendants arrested for nonviolent felony offenses who have previously been convicted of one or more nonviolent felonies. Qualified defendants enter a felony guilty plea and receive a deferred sentence that allows them to participate in a residential therapeutic community (TC) drug treatment program for a period of 15 to 24 months. Those who successfully complete the program have their charges dismissed; those who fail are brought back to court by a special warrant enforcement team and sentenced to prison. To prevent relapse and reduce recidivism, a Business Advisory Council helps defendants who complete treatment find employment.

Preliminary findings demonstrate that DTAP is highly cost effective. An analysis of the savings realized on correction, health care, public assistance and recidivism costs combined with tax revenues generated by
DTAP graduates reveals that diversion to DTAP resulted in economic benefits of $27 million dollars per the 699 graduates.

In 2003, a federally funded evaluation done by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, endorsed the program as "a promising example of what law enforcement can do to reduce the number of addicted drug offenders in America's prisons." CASA's five year study included the following dramatic findings: DTAP participants remain in treatment six times longer than those in the most recent national study of long-term residential treatment. The participants are 68% less likely to return to prison two years after leaving the program than are individuals of a matched comparison group two years after leaving prison. DTAP graduates have re-arrest rates that were 33% lower; re-conviction rates that were 45% lower; and were 87% less likely to return to prison than those of a matched comparison group.
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DTAP is the first prosecution-run program in the country to divert prison-bound felony offenders to residential drug treatment. The program targets drug-addicted defendants arrested for nonviolent felony offenses who have previously been convicted of one or more nonviolent felonies. Qualified defendants enter a felony guilty plea and receive a deferred sentence that allows them to participate in a residential therapeutic community (TC) drug treatment program for a period of 15 to 24 months. Those who successfully complete the program have their charges dismissed; those who fail are brought back to court by a special warrant enforcement team and sentenced to prison. To prevent relapse and reduce recidivism, DTAP has a job developer to assist graduates in finding and maintaining employment.

As of February 1, 2008, 2568 defendants have been accepted into the program, 363 are still in treatment and 1065 have completed the program and have had their charges dismissed. Since 1998, when DTAP shifted from a deferred-prosecution to a deferred-sentencing model, the program has achieved an impressive one-year retention rate of 76%, which compares very favorably with retention data of other studies of residential drug treatment programs. Ninety-one percent of DTAP's graduates who are able to work are employed. Ninety percent of the participants who failed treatment have been returned to court for prosecution and sentencing in a median time of eighteen days. DTAP is highly cost effective. Our analysis of the savings realized on correction, health care, public assistance and recidivism costs combined with the tax revenues generated by the DTAP graduates reveals that diversion to DTAP has resulted in economic benefits of $42.4 million dollars per the 1065 graduates.

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, which recently announced the findings of its federally-funded five-year evaluation of DTAP in a White Paper, Crossing the Bridge: An Evaluation of the Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison (DTAP) Program, has endorsed the program as "a promising example of what law enforcement can do to reduce the number of addicted drug offenders in America's prisons." CASA's study included the following dramatic findings: DTAP participants remain in treatment six times longer than those in the most recent national study of long-term residential treatment. The participants are 67% less likely to return to prison two years after leaving the program than are individuals of a matched comparison group two years after leaving prison. DTAP graduates had re-arrest rates that were 33% lower; re-conviction rates that were 45% lower; and were 87% less likely to return to prison than those of a matched comparison group. DTAP graduates are three and one-half times likelier to be employed than they were before their arrest. These results are achieved at half the cost of incarceration.

ComALERT (Community and Law Enforcement Resources Together)

"ComALERT is one of the most promising programs ever developed. The benefits flow not only to the prisons, but to the whole community as well. Recidivism goes down. And the cost of services is minimal compared to the large savings in prison costs. Charles Hynes and Kevin Costin, the Director of ComALERT, deserve great credit for showing Congress and the country what a sensible reentry program can accomplish."
-- Senator Edward M. Kennedy

The ComALERT public safety program was created in 1999 by District Attorney Hynes. The program supports individuals on probation or parole as they re-enter their Brooklyn communities. Other participants include members of street gangs and at-risk youth.

The Kings County District Attorney's Office refers ComALERT participants to community based organizations that provide them with job training, job placement, education, housing, mental health and substance abuse counseling. Collectively, these organizations, and the services they provide, help individuals resist the temptation to return to or continue a life of crime.

ComALERT emphasizes preventing violence over enforcement, prosecution and incarceration alone.

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A newly released inmate is required to report to the Division of Parole within 24 to 48 hours of release from prison. Based on a pre-release assessment need for treatment, a referral may be made by the parole officer to Parole's ACCESS center. At this center, a ComALERT "CASAC" ("certified alcohol and substance abuse counselor") interviews the parolee about his past activities and future goals. This psychosocial assessment forms the basis for any future re-entry planning and treatment in ComALERT. After the assessment, the eligible client is directed to report to the ComALERT Counseling Service EDNY Center at 210 Joralemon Street in downtown Brooklyn, for a program orientation and assignment to a social worker who will work with the client to help him comply with his conditional release requirements that include substance abuse treatment and employment.

Most ComALERT clients have substance abuse issues, and many are actively abusing illegal drugs and alcohol. This abuse places them in direct contradiction of standard conditional release mandates and increases the likelihood that they will engage in illegal behaviors and return to prison. Thus, substance abuse treatment and counseling form the basic framework for ComALERT's initial three-month enrollment. Though the typical period at ComALERT is one to two years depending on personal progress, the first three months have been identified as crucial to the client's ultimate success. If not engaged in the re-entry process during that time, it is likely that the client will not make a successful transition from prison to the community.

In addition to drug counseling and treatment, most clients will receive a referral to and preferential placement in, the ComALERT "Ready, Willing, & Able" Program, which provides transitional employment through the Doe Fund's Ready, Willing, and Able employment programs. In addition to receiving meals and a weekly stipend of $200 cash for manual labor jobs for up to nine consecutive months, the Day program provides the group support and reinforcement needed by the clients to maintain their sobriety. ComALERT provides weekly individual and group counseling, as well as random drug testing, to reinforce "Ready, Willing, & Able Day's" zero-tolerance policy.

Working closely with the Division of Parole, ComALERT monitors its clients to ensure public safety. A failure to cooperate or a violation of any program condition is brought to the immediate attention of the client's parole officer. A law enforcement sanction--up to and including parole revocation--can be employed at the discretion of the parole officer. Lesser sanctions, such as more frequent drug testing, can also be used for less serious infractions.

ComALERT's goal is to reduce criminal recidivism by providing the formerly incarcerated with the tools and support they need to remain drug-free, crime-free, and employed.

On November 7, 2005, Charles J. Hynes was re-elected to his fifth term as the District Attorney of Kings County (Brooklyn), New York; he was sworn into office on January 10, 2006.

The District Attorney began his career in public service in 1963 as an associate attorney for the Legal Aid Society. In 1969, he joined the Kings County District Attorney's Office as an Assistant District Attorney. In 1971, he was named Chief of the Rackets Bureau and in 1973, he was promoted to First Assistant District Attorney.

In 1975, Governor Hugh Carey and Attorney General Louis Lefkowitz appointed Mr. Hynes as Special State Prosecutor to investigate nursing home fraud. His State Medicaid Fraud Control Unit became a national model and his Medicaid Fraud Control legislation - which provided federal funding for any state interested in starting a unit - became law in 1978. That same year, District Attorney Hynes was elected the first president of the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units. Today, 48 states have Medicaid fraud control units.

In 1980, Mayor Edward I. Koch appointed Mr. Hynes as Fire Commissioner of New York City. In 1982, after two years in that post as Fire Commissioner, he left public service for private practice. He returned to public service in 1985, appointed by Governor Mario Cuomo as a Special State Prosecutor for the New York City Criminal Justice System.

In 1987, the District Attorney became the center of national attention when Governor Cuomo called on him to investigate the murder of Michael Griffith in Howard Beach, Queens. As the Special Prosecutor and Chief Trial Attorney in that case, Mr. Hynes led the investigation and prosecution which resulted in three homicide convictions.

As District Attorney, Mr. Hynes has pioneered many innovative criminal justice strategies. He started one of the first specialized domestic violence bureaus in the country and then worked with court administrators to establish one of the first domestic violence court parts in New York State. He started one of the first Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison (DTAP) programs for chronic drug offenders in the country, which has rehabilitated hundreds of nonviolent drug addicts and become a model for the nation.

District Attorney Hynes created a Crimes Against Children Bureau to bring special expertise to child abuse cases and a School Advocacy Bureau to handle cases that arise in schools or on school grounds. He created a faith-based mentoring program called Youth and Congregations in Partnership to provide support to court-involved youth from members of Brooklyn's churches, mosques and synagogues. And he created an Adopt-a-School program called Legal Lives to teach fifth graders about the criminal justice system, which is supplemented by a Truancy Reduction Program called T.R.A.C.K. which now has been copied in every other borough of New York City.

In 1999, Mr. Hynes created the ComALERT public safety program which supports individuals on parole as they re-enter their Brooklyn communities. He was motivated to implement ComALERT by his philosophy that education, intervention and rehabilitation are as important as traditional law enforcement techniques. This program refers participants to community-based organizations that provide them with job training, job placement, education, housing, mental health and substance abuse counseling.

District Attorney Hynes is a proud and life-long resident of Brooklyn, where he was born and raised in the Flatbush section. He met his wife, Patricia L. Pennisi, a registered nurse, while they were undergraduate students. He attended St. John's University while she was at Kings County Hospital. Throughout the years, he and Mrs. Hynes have remained professionally and personally loyal to Brooklyn where they chose to pursue their respective careers and raise five children. In October of 2006, Mr. and Mrs. Hynes celebrated their 43rd wedding anniversary. Today, the two enjoy the role of grandparents to fourteen grandchildren.

Since 1982, Mr. Hynes has served as a member of the Board of Trustees for the New York State Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection.

Since 2000, he has served as a member of the American Bar Association where he sat as co-chair of the Prosecutors Function Committee. He has also served as a member of the ABA Criminal Justice Section. In 2005, the Criminal Justice Section presented Mr. Hynes with their "Minister of Justice Award." In 2007, he became the Vice Chair-at-Large of the Criminal Justice Section. Mr. Hynes was appointed by the ABA President to serve as a member of the ABA's Commission on Effective Criminal Sanctions in 2006, for a term of two years.

In 1990, he became a member of the National District Attorneys Association and from 1993 until 2007, he served as New York State Director on the Board. In 2007, he was elected a Vice President of the Association.

He has co-authored and published "Incident at Howard Beach: The Case for Murder" and has contributed to another book, "The Regulation of Nursing Homes: A Case Study." In the Spring of 2007, St. Martin's Press, Thomas Dunne Imprint published Mr. Hynes' first novel, "Triple Homicide." It was released in mass market paperback on June 3, 2008.

Mr. Hynes continues to demonstrate his commitment to public service and education by serving as an Adjunct Professor of Trial Advocacy at three New York City Law Schools: St. John's, Fordham University and Brooklyn Law School.

New York Times: The Right Way to Handle Former Inmates

Editorial

The Right Way to Handle Former Inmates

Published: November 29, 2007
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/29/opinion/29thu3.html

To control recidivism, and thus have a shot at controlling prison crowding and costs, the states and localities need to develop comprehensive programs that help former inmates find jobs, housing, training, drug treatment and mental health care. A promising model has emerged in Brooklyn, where District Attorney Charles Hynes started his re-entry program long before other jurisdictions even realized they were necessary.

Created in 1999 in Brooklyn, ComAlert was recently the subject of a state-funded study carried out by the district attorney's office in collaboration with Bruce Western of Harvard, a sociologist and criminal justice expert. The program is still evolving and is far from perfect. But the study shows that former inmates are more likely to get jobs and keep jobs -- and more likely to remain out of jail -- if they undergo a rigorous regime of counseling and drug treatment while participating in a companion program that offers them immediate work experience and job training.

Drug treatment, counseling and drug testing are cornerstones of the ComAlert program. In addition to being counseled and tested, participants are also encouraged to sign up with Ready, Willing & Able, a highly regarded work and training program offered by the Doe Fund, a nonprofit organization in New York.

Many of those who join the program have little or no experience with the world of work. They begin to get that experience by working full time in low-skill jobs like street cleaning, which pays between $7.40 and $8.15 per hour. Most participants are eventually moved into vocational programs where they are trained in one of several areas, including food preparation, pest control, office services and building management. They are often referred to jobs at companies that have longstanding relationships with the program.

According to the report, ComAlert graduates are less likely be re-arrested after leaving prison and much more likely to be employed than either program dropouts or members of the control group. Participants who complete the Doe Fund work-training component do even better. They have an employment rate of about 90 percent, somewhat higher than the ComAlert graduates generally and several times higher than the control group.

These results are quite promising, but more research will be needed to bear them out fully. Beyond that, the ComAlert team will need to find ways to lower the combined dropout and failure rate, which is nearly 46 percent. These issues aside, the program is clearly headed in the right direction and deserves to be expanded and emulated elsewhere. It represents an impressive start toward the goal of helping newly released inmates forge viable lives on the outside.