District Attorneys Ask Governor Cuomo For Funds to Help Meet Basic Needs For the

Functioning of the Criminal Justice System in New York State; Request For Funds for New
Technology to Enhance Transparency and Public Safety
Annual Budget Letter includes request for money for videotaping equipment, body-worn cameras
for police and funding for prosecutors to appear at arraignments.
Contact: 518.598.8968 or president@daasny.org
(ALBANY, NY November 1, 2016) The District Attorneys Association of the State of New
York (DAASNY) asked Governor Andrew Cuomo to provide essential funding to increase
staffing as well as new money to fund modern day technology to law enforcement offices around
the state.
DAASNY President Thomas P. Zugibe said that every request is made to help public safety and
with an eye to helping maintain the trust, integrity and confidence in the criminal justice system
in New York State.
New York State is a leader in public safety. A solid criminal justice system that is trusted helps
New Yorkers on so many levels. It helps maintain the safety of our communities. It helps make
sure our residents want to stay in our great state and it encourages businesses to invest money in
New York, said Zugibe.
Police Departments and District Attorneys office across the state are trying to keep up with
technological advances. These include videotape interrogations and body worn cameras. These
new technologies help both carry out investigations and convict the guilty and reduce wrongful
convictions.
For every 100 body worn cameras on the street a District Attorney office needs one additional
staff member to keep up with the viewing of the footage, discovery requests and necessary
editing said Zugibe. If we want to be able to utilize this new technology to its fullest capability
we need the funding to help.
District Attorney offices are chronically underfunded. In recent years, the overall New York
State Budget has grown to billions of dollars, yet funding for criminal justice has decreased.
We are being forced to do more with less money, said Zugibe. More counties in New York
want to offer specialty courts that focus on drug issues, mental health issues, adolescent specific
issues and many other specialties that help prevent and reduce the number of people in the
criminal justice system. Unfortunately, there are District Attorney offices that do not even have
enough staff to appear at arraignments. We need to make sure that the system works and that we
have the resources to look closely at every case.
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