With an election around the corner, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is promoting his record on public safety.
Bragg will end his first term in office as one of the highest profile district attorneys in America, largely due to his case against President Donald Trump. But while he may be known as the only prosecutor to have won a felony conviction against Trump, Bragg maintains that his focus is local.
A rising rate of homicide and shootings as Bragg took office in 2022 buoyed right-wing attacks on him as soft-on-crime. Throughout his tenure he’s responded by taking a hard line on violent crime. In an interview with amNY Law, Bragg described the city’s public safety as his “North Star,” citing his efforts to curb violence and street crime.
With a steadily declining rate of shootings and murders over the past three years, notwithstanding that citywide levels have not hit pre-pandemic lows, Bragg has cultivated a results-driven response to his critics.
“Now we’ve had a body of work that shows, for example, Manhattan has had two years in a row of index crime being down, and the beginning of this year following course,” he said.
Bragg’s track record could insulate him politically. He does not face a Democratic primary challenger. And his Democrat-turned-Republican activist challenger in the general election in November, Maud Maron, would have to persuade a majority of voters to go against their affiliation in a borough where Democrats outnumber Republicans seven-to-one.
Bragg’s emphasis on declining crime rates in Manhattan has also downplayed some of his record as an advocate for police accountability and a holistic approach to criminal prosecution. A prosecutor who first ran as a reformer intent on reducing incarceration, Bragg now finds himself in the position of joining Governor Kathy Hochul and other New York City DAs in an effort to soften one of the sweeping criminal justice laws that the New York Legislature passed in 2019.
Hochul has proposed changing the 2019 discovery reform that required prosecutors to share evidence with defense lawyers on an accelerated timeline or face sanctions including the possible dismissal of the case. During the interview, Bragg quickly brought up tweaking the law, echoing complaints by other DAs that some of the penalties, even for “good faith” delays, can lead to case dismissals.
Some of his maneuvering is attuned to minimize pushback, but it doesn’t mean that Bragg has abandoned the pillars of his first campaign either. Bragg also has pointed to investments in mental health responders and service providers before those struggling with these issues enter the court system. He’s also expanded the office’s efforts to prosecute white-collar crime like wage theft and landlord-tenant disputes.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
amNY Law: I want to ask about this beginning of your term. You put out the “Day One Memo” that instructed prosecutors to avoid jail time in all but very serious cases. Then you had to modify or clarify that instruction. Have you reached a point where you have a settled approach on low-level crimes?
Bragg: On the initial memo, I said this shortly after we did a guidance making clear that discretion is the hallmark of this work. I take accountability for some of the messaging coming out of the memo. One thing that was intended to be conveyed was the significance of physical harm, whether it’s shootings, which are now down 45%, or assaults that we talked about, giving that work primacy. We’ve done that. Now we’ve had a body of work that shows, for example, Manhattan has had two years in a row of index crime being down, and this beginning of this year following course. But we continue to iterate: I’ve got my division chiefs with about a hundred years of not just prosecution experience but prosecution here at the Manhattan DA’s office. We’re in constant touch with each other, but also reiterating and giving guidance to our assistant district attorneys. You see that in the results. Public safety is our North Star, both the violence work but also the work we’ve been doing in shoplifting.
amNY Law: I also am interested in some reflection. You’re getting to the end of your first term. What, in your opinion, are the biggest challenges you continue to face?
Bragg: Our most significant challenge, both operationally and impacting public safety is the discovery statute, which we are advocating for changes in Albany. We’ve seen citywide dismissals arising from even good faith, but belated disclosures after the compliance deadline. We’re hoping to have proportionality in the range of sanctions that the judge can impose when there’s a good faith missing of a deadline.
amNY Law: Can you say more about what impact you would hope that reform to have?
Bragg: Sure. The impact is that more cases will get adjudicated. For example, from our domestic violence misdemeanor docket, those cases are quite important. Often, the order of protection goes away, and the case isn’t adjudicated. With reforms to the statute, we would see those cases go forward and get adjudicated. In particular, the survivor or victim would have their day in court, and we’d have accountability.
amNY Law: That’s a particular legislative challenge. On a broader level, are there other things that come to mind?
Bragg: I’ll pair some successes with some challenges. We’ve seen a 45% decline in shootings during my tenure. I still view that as a challenge in that there’s more work to be done. Index crime has gone down the last two years, and the beginning of this year has been productive. But we see challenges, there’s a lot more work to do with stranger assaults. Felony assaults are going in the wrong direction in Manhattan. 30% of that is domestic violence. We’ve got new initiatives for early intervention connecting with survivors and compiling discovery. But also the stranger assaults, which are the balance of the remainder of assaults, we’re working on that. We’ve looked at that docket closely. There are a lot of issues with mental illness and severe mental illness with the defendants. Not to go back to this, but we’re in the legislative session, so another bill, The Support Act, would address the fact that if a judge finds a defendant not fit on a misdemeanor case, the case is dismissed, and in our view there’s not sufficient mental health scaffolding support. We’re really looking at the assaults as a particular challenge. We’re also focusing on transit crime. We’ve had a number of cases resolved recently of violence on the trains. We’ll continue to give those priority.
amNY Law: On the other side, you’ve had some notable victories. In terms of accomplishments, what are the things that stand out the most?
Bragg: The most encouraging piece is the decline in shootings. We’ve worked along with NYPD and other law enforcement partners a lot on that and other community partners. We meet every day as part of the gun violence strategic partnership, focusing on those driving the most harm. Simultaneously, we’re doing strategic investments, particularly with our youth, in areas that have seen incidents of gun violence. That’s an area that we’re going to continue to focus on, in particular with moving swiftly when there’s an incident, knowing there’s going to be retaliation. Another area where we’ve done good work, but there are some new horizons and new heights to hit, is expanding our Survivor Services Bureau. Those are our advocates and our counselors who are working with survivors and victims. We’ve expanded their footprint. Our emergency services — that’s anything from a lock change to counseling — are up to about 250%. We’re looking to continue to expand the role of our advocates and counselors to support victims and survivors.
amNY Law: You have a large staff. How many attorneys, and how closely are you working with them to make sure they’re following your priorities?
Bragg: We’re an office of about 1,700 public servants and north of 550 assistant district attorneys. We’re divided into appeals; trial division, which is the bulk of our street crimes; special victims division, which is elder crime, child abuse, human trafficking, intimate partner sexual violence bureau; the investigation division, which is the bulk of our white collar crime work; and pathways of public safety. Each has a division head. I’m in touch with the division heads constantly. They are in turn in touch with their leadership. It’s a 24/7 practice. We’re staffing our complaint room. It’s an ongoing conversation. We have rigorous review by our executive staff and division chiefs.
amNY Law: Over your first term, do you feel like your office did enough to reduce incarceration? What are some of the most effective strategies in terms of balancing that with public safety?
Bragg: We’re encouraged by [recent] developments but are always striving to do more to advance public safety. We’ve expanded our use of problem-solving courts. The pathways to public safety division didn’t exist before. We created it to develop expertise and depth and also focus early on in the life of a case to identify cases where mental health diversion or drug diversion would be helpful and appropriate. That expertise and organizational structure helps to drive that practice. Those folks are resolving their cases with meaningful alternatives, 12 to 18 months rigorously overseen by [The Center for Justice Innovation]. That ultimately is worth it and advances public safety. Those are people who are not incarcerated. That’s a key way we are doing that.
amNY Law: Republican critics, including your opponent in this upcoming election, have used the language of downgrading more than half of the felony cases to misdemeanors. This seems related to the legislative tweak you’re proposing on discovery. Can you clarify what has led to this result and to what extent is it a reflection of your priorities?
Bragg: I’m happy to talk about our work. I won’t discuss electoral campaign work while sitting in my government office at 1 Hogan. The heart of your question is substantive. Discovery requires us to do significant triage. It takes far more work to get compliance. The cases that are indicting and going forward are ones that we’re going to make sure we get discovery compliance on. We’re also looking at every case to evaluate legal sufficiency. Sometimes there may be issues with the case in terms of whether witnesses want to go forward. There is a certain amount of triage in terms of what we use our resources on, giving primacy to cases where there’s significant harm. We’ve also looked at other priorities. You can see what we’re doing on shoplifting and focusing on recidivists. 18% of people arrested for shoplifting when I started an office accounted for 45% of the shoplifting arrests in Manhattan. Identifying priorities and making sure those cases are moving is what we focus on.
amNY Law: I also want to ask you about the white-collar crime initiatives on wage theft and housing. Can you say more about how and why you built those up?
Bragg: I want to give credit to my predecessor. The construction taskforce has been in place for a while and has done important work on wage theft and worker safety in the construction industry. We expanded the scope of that to other industries and gave that work more resources. Fundamentally this builds on work I did when I was the chief deputy of the New York State Attorney General’s Office. It’s the basic contract: an honest dollar for an honest day’s work. We’ve also seen a number of cases with worker safety and there’s a couple with the employer actually assaulting workers. It’s illegal. It’s criminal. It’s a really basic human contract that we think is important. I call these power asymmetry cases, where there’s a significant power asymmetry between employer and worker, particularly in low-wage industries. We see criminal conduct and exploitation.
amNY Law: And can you speak on the housing initiative as well?
Bragg: Yes. There’s a power asymmetry between landlord and tenant. We’ve seen harassment of tenants to get them to move out. We’ve also seen alleged misuse of tax subsidy programs, which I’d call a housing case and a public corruption case. Particularly in times of a shrinking public [fiscal outlook], it’s very important to make sure that if there’s a government program, money is supposed to go to affordable housing, it should go to affordable housing.
amNY Law: I want to ask about the Trump case. The press reported you were reluctant to bring charges. How did you evolve in that case?
Bragg: I’m still in active litigation, so I’m constrained from saying much. I don’t know “evolved” is the right characterization. In office, as throughout my career as a prosecutor, I examined the facts and the law and brought the case when I thought it was ready.
amNY Law: What comes next?
Bragg: We’re in the appellate process. There was a filing last week in the Second Circuit, which is public record. I assume the defense will perfect their appeal in New York State courts. We are the appellee and will await their briefing.
amNY Law: In terms of gun control, this has been a huge priority for you. How does it relate to your broader public safety strategy?
Bragg: We’re fortunate that not all parts of the borough experience significant gun violence. But particularly in those that do — I grew up in one neighborhood that did and does, and live in another that currently does — so addressing that is important. All crime is important, but shootings drive perception of crime. You hear a gunshot, you react. Shootings cause significant physical harm. Because of the actual harm and the visceral reaction, we’ve given that significant resources and are encouraged to see initial returns. But there’s a lot more work to do. It’s the potential for significant harm and homicide, and the feel of a shooting drives public perception of safety.
amNY Law: Can you say more about your personal path to this work, how it connects to growing up in the city, and how that led you to become a prosecutor?
Bragg: I’m 51. I grew up in Central Harlem during the crack cocaine epidemic. I’ve seen many parts of the system, from a homicide victim on my doorstep to having a semi-automatic gun at my temple. Family incarceration, collect calls home as a youth, and then progressing into older age a loved one returning from incarceration and living with me. More recently, before I was in office, a significant shooting on my block. I’ve experienced many parts of the criminal justice system. They drove my early interest and underscores the profound impact of our work and the profound issues facing us. I would also add with our mental health crisis, my dad used to run homeless shelters, giving me an early introduction to the people he referred to as his clients. I think about that work a lot now. I bring all those experiences to the current work.
amNY Law: Can you talk about the Court Navigator mental health initiative you’ve rolled out? I think when New Yorkers talk about their concerns over public safety, mental health issues are such a huge part of that.
Bragg: We have a couple of things important, and they’re all important to public safety. One thing about today versus prior chapters is the randomness of violence, which can be difficult to disrupt from a prosecutor’s perspective and also can be quite scary. We have community navigators funded by The Bridge program. They quite literally are crossing the street to engage with the person who most of us are understandably crossing the street away from – someone with no shirt on talking to her or himself — they would engage. We’ve seen those interactions have real stabilization effects. We also funded the $3 million to the Fortune Society to be in our courtroom arraignment parks. When people leave, whether it’s release on recognizance or posted bail, if they need something like food, hygiene kits, or housing… These are cases where we might not see that person until there’s a bench warrant or they recidivate, so stabilizing them is a good main level but it also advances public safety… We also announced with the mayor our Washington Square Park hub last week. We have a few around the city. This model has borne results, and we need to scale it up. You get the full spectrum of government services literally in one room meeting intensely with local leaders. So if it’s legal scaffolding, okay, they’re going to handle that and literally bring in sunlight and remove the cover under which unlawful activity may be happening. Sanitation will come in and clean up. The police department and the DA’s office will coordinate on criminal activity with the department of health and homeless services and sort intensely bringing all of the city resources to bear on a geographical area. We’ve seen that work. Those aren’t all exclusively mental health issues, but we see those as paramount.
amNY Law: The other high-profile case related to mental health issues is the Daniel Penny case. How do you respond to the level of politicization that case received?
Bragg: We focus on the facts and law. It sounds trite, but to someone like me, I graduated law school in 1999, so I’ve been doing this a long time. I’ve worked on many high-profile matters, and the approach is what we do in all cases: focus on the facts and the law. There’s always someone upset about something. I don’t say that to dismiss constructive criticism. Obviously we want to be introspective about our work, but on particular matters, our task is not to detect public opinion. Our task is to assess the law and facts, bring cases when warranted, and that’s what we do.
amNY Law: Can you talk about your relationship with NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch? How have you been working together?
Bragg: It’s been very collaborative. We started a week into our tenure with the shooting of the United Health executive. We’re working on that collaboratively. We work every day with the NYPD, particularly on the senior levels. We got off to a fast start and have continued to collaborate around serious issues in the city.
