www.qns.com I LIC COURIER I JANUARY 2019 23
Photos by Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech
Community News
QUEENS DA RICHARD BROWN
WON’T SEEK RE-ELECTION AFTER 27 YEARS IN OFFICE
BY BILL PARRY
Queens District At-torney
Richard A.
Brown announced
on Wednesday
Jan. 9 that he will
not seek an eighth
term in the office he has held since
Governor Mario Cuomo appointed
him in June 1991.
In the ensuing years, Brown el-evated
the Queens district attorney’s
office to be “without a shadow of a
doubt … the best prosecutor’s office
in this great nation,” but at age 85
and in failing health, he had been
rumored by court-watchers to step
away for some time.
“After almost six decades in public
service, the last 27 years spent as
District Attorney of Queens County,
and after careful thought and con-sideration,
I have made the decision
to finish out my current term and
not seek re-election,” Brown said in
a Jan. 9 statement. “It has been an
honor and a privilege to have served
the people of Queens County — the
most ethnically diverse county in the
world — for these many years as dis-trict
attorney. I am greatly appreciative
and humbled to have had the trust and
confidence that they have expressed
in me by electing me to seven full
terms in office, and in the process,
making me the longest serving district
attorney in Queens County history.”
Prior to his appointment in 1991,
Brown had been a member of the
state judiciary. In November 1977,
Brown was elected a Justice of the
Supreme Court in Queens County
and in 1982 we was designated by
Governor Hugh Carey as an Associ-ate
Justice of the Appellate Division.
“When I was first appointed District
Attorney by then Governor Cuomo in
1991, one of my chief goals was to
elevate the standards of profession-alism
in the office by hiring people
on merit, not political connections,”
Brown said. “Without question, we
have overwhelmingly achieved that
goal. Whatever success I have at-tained
over the years is due in large
measure to the fact that from the
beginning I have surrounded myself
with the most talented, capable and
dedicated professionals imaginable
— men and women of exceptional
ability and commitment.”
Brown thanked his staff for their
loyalty and service and thanked his
partners in law enforcement for con-tributing
to the city’s historic reduction
in serious crime.
“Apart, however, from our histor-ic
reductions in violent crime and
auto theft to name but a few, I am
proud of our many innovations that
have improved not only our criminal
justice system, but our entire com-munity,”
Brown said. “I am grateful
that the many specialty courts we
pioneered — like having one of the
state’s first Drug Courts, as well
as Mental Health Court and Veter-ans
Court — have enjoyed enduring
success and have been duplicated
around the nation.”
Brown also praised other programs
such as the Queens Court Academy,
where young offenders are not only
spared incarceration, but are given
the chance to complete high school
and avoid rearrest. The Queens Treat-ment
Intervention Program or QTIP,
to address the scourge of the opioid
crisis, and he is proud of institutional
technological changes that allow the
office to process arrests more quickly.
“We have been a leading advocate
for improvements in criminal justice
legislation, including measures to en-sure
the recordings of interrogations,
enhanced identification procedures
and for the sealing of old convictions,”
Brown said. “As I finish my tenure as
Queens District Attorney, I will con-tinue
to seek innovations to help all of
our 2.5 million residents and ensure
that I leave my office dedicated to
the standard of excellence which has
been our hallmark.”
Councilman Rory Lancman, retired
Queens Supreme Court Justice Greg-ory
Lasak and Queens Borough Presi-dent
Melinda Katz have announced
they will run to replace. Brown and
his wife Rhoda have three children
and two grandchildren.
“While it is difficult to say goodbye,
I am comforted by the knowledge that
I leave a legacy of accomplishment,
excellence and government at its
best, for which anyone can be proud,”
Brown said. “On behalf of my entire
family, I offer my best wishes and
warmest thanks.”
Photo courtesy of The Queens Courier
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