The Post reports that Manhattan's top crime-fighting district attorney, Alvin Bragg, is secretly running a publicly funded program to help his staff who have been traumatized by the cases they have handled. Got it.
Woke prosecutors have been accused by critics of demonizing victims while going easy on suspects, and have created a so-called “trauma recovery system” for more than 1,300 assistant district attorneys, paralegals and others. It has spent $40,000 in taxpayer cash to develop a “compensation and welfare plan.” employees, according to city records.
9 month contract includes: Conduct focus groups and interview exhausted staff about secondary traumatic stress in the workplace and supervisor training sessions.
Jeffrey Alba said the initiative was a “slap in the face” to crime victims and their families. Alba's bodega worker father Jose was infamously charged with murder by Mr Bragg in 2022 after defending himself from an angry customer.
“He's worried about his team, he's not worried about the victim,” Alba said. The father is now suing Bragg for racial discrimination after the charges were dropped amid intense public scrutiny.
“It breaks my heart because he didn’t provide anything for my dad. [Bragg] We did not provide him with any psychological support,” he added.
While felonies have skyrocketed across the District since taking office in 2022, the left-leaning Democratic prosecutor, who has made it his mission to downgrade many of these cases to misdemeanors, has joined dozens of progressive locals across the country. He is one of the prosecutors and prosecutor candidates. It is backed by far-left billionaire kingmaker George Soros.
” [staff trauma] “This program is a bunch of hoopla because there are victims who are regularly spanked and he won't press charges,” the 25-year veteran officer barked.
“They need counseling, but they have money for shitty lawyers who won't even prosecute.”
According to NYPD records, 27,122 felonies were reported in Manhattan through Nov. 10 of this year, an increase of 16.9% compared to the same period in 2021.
Under Bragg, rapes increased by 7.4%, robbery by 8.9%, felony assault by 16.8% and grand theft by 29.8% across the borough.
Mr. Bragg's new program is primarily aimed at “snowflake” staffers, said Assembly Minority Leader Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island).
“What is happening to the well-being of the thousands of crime victims who see their perpetrators on the streets thanks to Alvin's crime mitigation policies?” Borrelli barked.
“I think the public expects that the people we trust to confront and prosecute the most heinous criminals don't need therapy dogs or comfort blankets at their desks.”
Jennifer Harrison, executive director of the Victims' Rights Reform Council, said the initiative is also an unfair expense to the public.
“These people already have insurance benefits that can cover the cost of trauma counseling if they need it,” she said. “[Taxpayers] I have already paid benefits. ”
Madeline Blame, whose son Hasson Correa, a U.S. Army veteran, was beaten and stabbed to death inside their Harlem apartment in 2018, said the new program is “another waste of taxpayer money.”
When Mr. Bragg took over the case against Mr. Correa's alleged attackers, he struck plea deals with two of them and released one on a time-limited basis, infuriating the mother in Freeport, New York.
If any of the prosecutor's office employees are traumatized, it's because their “integrity has been compromised,” she told the Post.
“They believed [Bragg’s] Restorative justice theory is right, but you're seeing a revolving door of the same defendants, the same offenders,” said Brahm, 62, who is offered bimonthly 30-minute grief counseling sessions. . Through the office of then-Prosecutor Cy Vance.
“They're seeing violent felons getting more violent every day. That's the only thing I see that they need trauma support,” she said. said.
Launched by Bragg in January pilot program His office's Office of Survivor Services has added a ticketing system that connects cases with victim advocates immediately after an arrest. The department provides safety assessments, counseling, relocation assistance and other services to victims of violent crimes as criminal cases progress.
“Is this a way to gaslight voters and pretend to care about victims, even though he downplays half the felonies that happened in his administration?” Harrison asked. Said. “I don't think this is at all well-intentioned.”
Bragg spokeswoman Emily Tuttle declined to say which company was chosen to run the new program or when it would launch, but insisted the service is guaranteed.
“We will never apologize or shy away from providing much-needed support to our skilled staff who have to deal with horrific crimes,” she said. “The need to address trauma in law enforcement is research-based, supported by the National District Attorneys Association, and proven to improve retention rates and help make New York City safer.”
“Our prosecutors and professional staff guide young children through rape trials, support women standing up against their traffickers, and fight in court for the grieving families of murder victims.”
