Letter To The Editor: Putnam DA's Office Launches New Initiatives

To the Editor:

A few years back, we created the first narcotics unit in the history of the Putnam County District Attorney’s office. This consists of Assistant District Attorneys who have a major focus on the investigation and prosecution of narcotics-related cases. We also created the immigration affairs initiative with a confidential immigrant affairs hotline and email address.

Beginning this year, our office will now have its first Major Financial Crimes Unit and its first Special Victims Unit.

The Major Financial Crimes Unit will have three ADAs who will be investigating and prosecuting cases which involve crimes of significant amounts of monetary theft, tax evasion, corporate/business theft, fraud, insurance fraud and other serious financial crimes. We have had a number of these prosecutions and they have all been successful—the most recent being the prosecution of a criminal who defrauded a senior citizen of over $100,000 dollars. It only makes sense to have ADAs trained specifically in these types of crimes. This will be in addition to their usual duties and caseload.

The Special Victims Unit will have two Assistant District Attorneys and one investigator dedicated to the prosecution of cases involving children, seniors, and sex abuse victims. The Special Victims Unit has two ADAs and an investigator who have extensive training in these types of cases which often involve very sensitive information and particularly vulnerable citizens. Having personnel dedicated to these types of crimes will be a great help to those most vulnerable persons in our county.

All the personnel in these units either have received or will receive extensive training in their individual areas of expertise.

Law enforcement’s best tool is often civilian tips. We have received phone calls, letters—often anonymous—which have led to successful large-scale investigations and very serious allegations of abuse. Some have been quite significant, and I urge members of the public to contact my office if you are aware of anything that may be criminal activity.

Robert V. Tendy, Putnam County District Attorney