Official Swearing-In Held For Rockland's New District Attorney

NEW CITY, NY — Rockland County's new district Attorney, who started work Jan. 1, was sworn in Thursday evening in a ceremony in New City. Thomas Walsh was elected in November after being endorsed by all three major parties in the county.

He took office just days after a Hannukah machete attack injured five Rockland residents in a case that drew international attention. The alleged attacker, Grafton Thomas, faces federal hate crime charges as well as local attempted murder charges.

His assumption of the office coincides also with the controversial criminal justice reform laws limiting the offenses for which courts can demand cash bail and requiring prosecutors to turn evidence over faster to defense attorneys.

Walsh told Patch in December that he planned to be an independent voice putting the county's people before politics. He offered this list of priorities:

• We will prosecute, not persecute.
• We will regulate, not discriminate.
• We will rehabilitate, not debilitate.
• We will protect victims of gun violence, domestic abuse, and sexual assault. Rehabilitate wherever possible, but not be afraid to put predators behind bars.
• We will combat the heroin and opioid crisis plaguing our communities.
• We will create new investigative and prosecution units to protect seniors, women, children and our immigrant community.
• We will stop political corruption and enforce the law without fear or favor.
• We will create a wrongful conviction integrity unit.

SEE ALSO: Rockland Thanks NYC Cops Who Caught Machete Attack Suspect