ROCKLAND COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY GARNERS NATIONAL RECOGNITION FOR SUCCESSFUL COMMUNITY PROSECUTION INNOVATIONS

Rockland County’s successful Community Prosecution initiative garners more national recognition this week as District Attorney Thomas P. Zugibe shares his knowledge and experiences with other prominent law enforcement leaders at a U.S. Department of Justice conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Zugibe has been invited to play an integral role in the Justice Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) forum on building public safety partnerships in the community and finding solutions for real-world challenges faced by prosecutors, police officials and corporate executives.

The federal government’s decision to include District Attorney Zugibe among the elite gathering of law enforcement and business leaders is a tacit acknowledgement of the effective Community Prosecution initiative formulated in Rockland County.

D.A. Zugibe’s participation in the Minneapolis event follows appearances last week at two prestigious law enforcement forums in Washington DC and New York City.

On January 25th, Zugibe was invited to join the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys Community Prosecution Advisory Council (CPAC) in Washington. This national advisory group consists of fifteen members devoted to making recommendations to the field regarding the development of community prosecution and community-oriented justice approaches.

On January 29th, District Attorney Zugibe visited the Grand Hyatt in Manhattan, where he spoke before the winter conference of the New York State District Attorney’s Association. Zugibe shared ideas and lessons gleaned during the development of Rockland’s Community Prosecution model, including working with community partners and the implementation of Community Prosecution practices. Zugibe was featured on the Continuing Legal Education panel presentation. The other distinguished speakers leading the discussion were Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice and Monroe County District Attorney Michael C. Green.

In all three occasions, Zugibe was selected to participate from hundreds of leading prosecutors because of his successful Community Prosecution model in Rockland.

Zugibe’s vision for restorative justice is touted as a model for other prosecutors throughout the country. Rockland County’s Community Prosecution model seeks to enhance public safety by reducing the distance, social and physical, between prosecutors, law enforcement and the community with a focus on crime prevention and diversion in addition to aggressive prosecutions.

The Rockland County District Attorney’s Office has initiated a series of high-profile initiatives designed to address quality of life concerns and other issues that fall outside of the traditional case-processing domain. Included in these are partnerships with local police departments, school districts, businesses leaders and community groups.

The Zugibe Administration officially launched Community Prosecution in Rockland County on November 20th, 2008. Since then, the effort has resulted in numerous indictments and convictions on a variety of criminal offenses. In addition, the model of Community Prosecution in the RCDA’s Office has given local residents a greater voice in prioritizing and solving problems that plague neighborhoods, from Suffern to Stony Point.

All of Rockland County’s police departments have been assigned Community Prosecutors, each possessing unique knowledge of their jurisdiction. Local residents are helping to make a difference by engaging directly with prosecutors from the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office, contacting local police departments and utilizing the RCDA’s Web site, RocklandCountyDA.com.