Since taking office in January 2022, District Attorney Alvin Bragg has been fulfilling his campaign promise to make our communities safer and our criminal justice system fairer. That vision is shaped by D.A. Bragg’s lived experience of violent crime impacting his friends, family and community, combined with his more than two-decades of experience as a state and federal prosecutor.  He has restructured the Manhattan DA’s Office to focus more resources on prosecuting violent crimes, meeting the needs of survivors, reducing recidivism by addressing root causes such as mental health struggles, substance abuse and addiction, protecting everyday New Yorkers from abuses by the powerful, and correcting past injustices by vacating wrongful convictions.

IMPROVING PUBLIC SAFETY

Combatting gun violence is D.A. Bragg’s top priority. The Office is targeting drivers of violence, gun traffickers, and ghost gun manufacturers as well as investing in prevention to keep New York safe, and we are starting to see results. Homicides in Manhattan are down 26% (which is more than the citywide decline), while shootings are down 19% (also more than the citywide decline).

• Gun convictions have more than doubled from 142 in 2021, to 368 so far this year.

• The DA’s Office has prosecuted drivers of violence including Own Every Dollar, or OED, a “vicious” street gang officials accused of being responsible for a violent spree of murders, assaults, and robberies across Manhattan and the Bronx.

• They have dismantled gun trafficking operations, including the prosecution of a North Carolina man for allegedly trafficking more than $40,000 worth of guns into Manhattan.

• And have awarded grants through D.A. Bragg’s Gun Violence Prevention Community Initiative to ten community-based organizations engaging young people at risk for gun violence.

TRANSFORMING DANY’S RESPONSE TO GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

D.A. Bragg created the Office’s first Special Victims Division, elevating the role of our Sex Crimes, Domestic Violence, Child Abuse, Human Trafficking, and Elder Abuse Units to put the dignity and well-being of survivors at the center of its work. The new organizational structure – along with the forthcoming dedication of resources commensurate with a Division in the Office – represent a significant reimagining of the sex crimes unit and a step toward best supporting a survivor-centered and trauma-informed practice.

• D.A. Bragg is working to make sure every sexual assault survivor receives justice, including securing the trial conviction of a neurologist for sexually assaulting and raping six patients under his care at the Beth Israel Medical Center; indicting two men for violently trafficking multiple women in their mid-twenties, forcing them to engage in commercial sexual acts in at least six states; and indicting a man for attacking and sexually assaulting three women as they jogged along the Hudson River Greenway.

• D.A. Bragg has enhanced the role of our Witness Aid Services Unit (“WASU”) in our Special Victims cases, and across the Office. WASU ensures crime victims, witnesses, and their families can access the services they need to rebuild their lives, while helping them navigate New York’s complex court system.

• D.A. Bragg’s Human Trafficking Response Unit is leading the way in vacating convictions of survivors of human trafficking under the 2021 START Act. Not only have we consented to every START Act motion made thus far, we are applying the same approach to new and existing cases.

COMBATING HATE CRIMES

The District Attorney office secured $1.7 million funding to expand the Hate Crimes Unit and is not only investigating and prosecuting more hate crimes than ever before, but also conducting trainings with the NYPD on gathering evidence necessary to prosecute and providing outreach and advocacy that helps victims heal and addresses root causes.

• They have initiated 82 hate crime cases and are holding those who commit these crimes accountable, including charging a man with Murder in the Second Degree as a Hate Crime for brutally assaulting Yao Pan Ma, a 61-year-old Chinese immigrant; indicting two men for terroristic threats to the Jewish community in Manhattan; and indicting a man for a series of bias-related arsons that targeted LGBTQIA+ establishments.

• They expanded the Unit from two prosecutors to 22, along with additional language accessibility, investigative analysts and victims service advocates who are specially trained to work with impacted individuals and communities.

• And they are working closely with community partners to increase reporting of hate crimes. We’re also enhancing our language abilities and cultural competency to serve the most targeted communities. And we’re conducting hate crimes trainings for folks across the borough, ranging from law enforcement to schools to religious institutions and more. 

ADDRESSING RECIDIVISM, MENTAL HEALTH, AND ADDICTION

Through the creation of the Office’s first Pathways to Public Safety Division (“Pathways”), D.A. Bragg has elevated the use of diversion and evidence-based programming, ensuring individuals involved in the criminal justice system receive necessary mental health and substance abuse services to reduce recidivism and enhance public safety. Diverting people out of the justice system and addressing the underlying needs that are driving their harmful behavior, reduces reoffending and makes our city safer.

• Specially trained Pathways Assistant D.A.s are embedded in each of the Office’s six Trial Bureaus to screen and assess every case as early as possible. We assess each case individually, and if diversion is appropriate, we tailor services individually to meet the person’s needs.

• They have substantially increased our felony Alternatives to Incarceration referrals, developed a strategic plan to expand our use of restorative justice, and we’re working to expand Manhattan Mental Health Court.

• In November, D.A. Bragg also announced a new $9 million mental health initiative to immediately reach New Yorkers with deeply entrenched needs. This initiative aims to interrupt persistent recidivism and create lasting improvements in public safety by addressing the needs of those most in need in Manhattan by building trusting relationships and connecting them with long-term services such as supportive housing and treatment.

HOLDING POWERFUL PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE FOR HARMING EVERYDAY NEW YORKERS.

D.A. Bragg is working to make sure that all our workers are treated fairly, and that bad faith employers and landlords are held accountable for their crimes, from wage theft to retaliation, tax fraud to tenant harassment.

• He launched the Office’s first Housing and Tenant Protection Unit because we know that housing is a public safety issue. The Unit targets systemic criminal harassment of tenants and abuse of government programs by landlords and developers.

• In October, they indicted six real estate developers for defrauding New York State’s 421-a tax exemption program meant to promote affordable housing, and collectively reaping more than $1.6 million in illegal property benefits.

• And they are aggressively pursuing white collar cases.

BUILDING COMMUNITY TRUST IN THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE.

D.A. Bragg is working to knock down barriers between the Manhattan District Attorney office and the people we serve by holding all accountable and forming partnerships with community groups, activists, labor unions, faith based leaders, civic associations, elected officials, youth groups, immigrants, and particularly victims and survivors.

• One of the first actions D.A. Bragg did upon taking office was to create a Post-Conviction Justice Unit (“PCJU”) to review wrongful convictions and address the root causes behind them. PCJU’s first exoneration was that of Steven Lopez, who was indicted in connection with the “Central Park Five” case – now known as the Exonerated Five.

• The Unit also vacated and dismissed 188 misdemeanor convictions tied to eight NYPD officers who were convicted of crimes.

• D.A. Bragg also bolstered the Office’s work to ensure integrity in law enforcement by creating a Police Accountability Unit (“PAU”), which operates independently from the rest of the Office and reports directly to the district attorney. Through the first three quarters of this year, PAU has screened more than 650 cases and currently have 17 active investigations. In 2022, there were four convictions secured, and the trial of Joseph Franco, a former NYPD officer arrested for perjury, is expected to begin in January.