This page presents the divisions, bureaus, and units of the Bronx District Attorney's Office as well as the description of the departments. Click on the links below to access information on each department.
| Administration and Support Division |
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| The Administration and Support Division staff prepare budgets, payrolls, grants, statistical analyses and planning reports; recruit, hire, train and evaluate support staff; administer fringe benefits; file and store records; renovate, enhance and operate office space; purchase and distribute supplies and office equipment; maintain telecommunications and automated systems; provide accountability to federal, state and city officials; meet all production needs and generally further the effective and efficient prosecution of crime. |
| Appeals Bureau |
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| The Appeals Bureau is primarily responsible for litigation in the appellate courts of the state and at all levels in the federal judicial system. The bureau also litigates whether defendants who have been found not responsible at trial by reason of mental disease or defect are ready for release from psychiatric hospitalization. |
| Arson/Economic Crime Bureau |
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| The Investigations Division consists of the Rackets Bureau, the Arson/Economic Crime Bureau, the Citizen Complaint Unit and the Asset Forfeiture Unit. The division is responsible for investigating and prosecuting a wide variety of criminal conduct and for making appropriate referrals to other agencies when criminal prosecution is inappropriate. The primary areas of responsibility of the Rackets Bureau are organized crime; official corruption; and excessive use of force by police and correction officers. The Arson/Economic Crime Bureau has responsibility for investigating and prosecuting arson, economic crime and auto theft. The Citizen Complaint Unit serves as liaison to the community by receiving and investigating citizen complaints. In matters in which criminal jurisdiction is inappropriate, the unit serves as a referral agency to other organizations such as the State Attorney General, administrative agencies and consumer protection groups. The Asset Forfeiture Unit brings civil actions to recover assets which are the proceeds of criminal activities. The unit works in conjunction with the police department and federal agencies. |
| Child Abuse/Sex Crimes Bureau |
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| The Child Abuse/Sex Crimes Bureau (CAS) prosecutes all sexual assault cases involving both child and adult victims; and all misdemeanor and felony physical abuse involving child victims under the age of seventeen.
The Child Abuse Response Unit within CAS is comprised of legal, support and investigative staff and is responsible for screening reports of suspected child abuse and maltreatment referred by the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) to determine whether a criminal investigation is warranted. |
| Community Affairs Unit |
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| The Community Affairs Unit serves as a liaison between the District Attorney and the residents of Bronx County. The Office of the Bronx District Attorney aims to make itself more accessible to the public through community outreach in the form of speakers, adult workshops, tours of the courts, formal school-based programs, participation in inter-agency committees, attendance at community meetings and consistent interaction with community residents, neighborhood leaders and others. This unit is also able to keep residents informed of a case’s status as it progresses through the criminal justice system. Issues of importance to the community can be brought to the attention of the District Attorney for discussion and resolution by contacting the Director of Community Affairs. |
| Complaint Room and Arraignments |
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| The Complaint Room and Arraignments coordinates assistant district attorneys assigned to the General Crimes Division and to the Criminal Court Bureau to process all arrests in Bronx County. The Complaint Room function includes screening and drafting accusatory instruments. The Arraignment function includes serving notices and making bail applications when a defendant is arraigned in court. |
| Crime Victims Assistance Unit |
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The Crime Victims Assistance Unit (CVAU) provides Bronx crime victims with a wide variety of services. The major categories of services provided by the CVAU are Emotional Supportive Services (including crisis intervention, supportive counseling, short and long term on-site therapy for sexual assault survivors and educational/support group for homicide survivors ); Client Advocacy Services (including advocacy with community-based organizations and government agencies); Emergency Assistance (including relocation assistance and motel/hotel and shelter placements); Application Assistance (primarily helping victims or their families apply for New York State Crime Victims Board compensation benefits); Court Accompaniment (which involves having an advocate accompany an individual to court for trial testimony); and Transportation Services (including out-of-town travel or ambulette/ambulance services).
Crime Victims Assistance Unit
Crime Victims Assistance Unit, Your Day In Court
The Multidisciplinary Team on Child Physical and Sexual Abuse is composed of representatives from this Office, the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), the Bronx Special Victims Squad of the NYPD, the Child Sexual Assault Unit of Kingsbridge Heights Community Center, local hospitals and school boards. The team’s activities are intended to improve prosecution and provide services to child victims of physical and sexual abuse. The Team’s coordinator is on the staff of the Office and is supervised by the Director of the CVAU. |
| Criminal Court Bureau |
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| The Criminal Court Bureau is responsible for the prosecution of most non-felony cases. The bureau also works closely with the local police precincts to respond to quality-of-life conditions, such as prostitution, graffiti and marijuana locations, that are disturbing to community residents. The Community Service Program offers a productive alternative to incarceration for certain nonviolent defendants convicted of misdemeanors. Defendants sentenced to community service perform meaningful work such as cleaning roadways, parks and subway stations of dirt and graffiti. These services allow the defendant to "pay back" the community for his/her offense by helping to improve the quality of life in the Bronx.
Educational Outreach provides an alternative to prosecution for certain nonviolent defendants charged with misdemeanors. Defendants considered for the program are those individuals between the ages of 16 and 25 who have no prior felony convictions. Those accepted are referred to a variety of community-based programs and the New York City Board of Education. |
| Detective Investigators |
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| The Detective Investigators (D.I.'s) are police officers employed by the District Attorney. They conduct a variety of investigative and support functions related to the proper working of the Office and to the prosecution of defendants arrested and charged with crimes. In addition, the D.I.'s and the Detective Squad (see below) work as the investigative arms for the Rackets and Arson/Economic Crime Bureaus. |
| Detective Squad |
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| The Detective Squad is comprised of detectives and supervisors from the New York City Police Department assigned to assist the District Attorney in the investigation of criminal conduct. In performing that assignment, the Detective Squad works closely with the Detective Investigators (see above). The squad also works cooperatively with assistant district attorneys from all bureaus in the Office and with a variety of city, state and federal agencies. |
| Domestic Violence Bureau |
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| The Domestic Violence Bureau (DV) prosecutes felonies and misdemeanors involving family violence by one family member against another. The chief, deputy chief, supervisor, and trial counsel of the bureau are experienced trial attorneys. |
| Gang/Major Case Bureau |
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| The Gang/Major Case Bureau, formed in September of 2003, is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of gang-related violence and narcotics activity. The bureau focuses on groups of individuals engaged in criminal acts that negatively impact communities within Bronx County. Working closely with the NYPD's Gang Unit and Major Case Unit, the bureau targets groups engaged in a wide variety of criminal conduct, from street level violence to large scale narcotics activity.
The Bureau's Chief also functions as the District Attorney's Chief of Homicide, overseeing the investigation and prosecution of all homicide cases. |
| General Crimes Division/Intake Bureau |
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| The General Crimes Division/Intake Bureau is responsible for the evaluation of all non-drug felony cases after arraignment. The Bureau then handles most of those cases, except for those prosecuted by the Domestic Violence and the Child Abuse/Sex Crimes Bureaus and the Investigations Division, at the Grand Jury investigation stage. During that stage, cases are further screened and carefully evaluated to ensure that appropriate action is taken. The Bureau also prosecutes crimes occurring at the Rikers Island Correctional Facility through the indictment stage.
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| General Crimes Division/Trial Bureaus |
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| General Crimes Division/Trial Bureaus. The cases indicted by the Intake Bureau component of the General Crimes Division are prosecuted at the trial level by the Trial Bureaus. Attorneys in these bureaus also handle "vertical" prosecution of most homicide cases as well as other non-homicide felonies. |
| Information Technology (IT) Unit |
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| The Information Technology (IT) Unit manages data processing and informational system
databases. The most widely used of these technologies is a defendant database that tracks cases
and produces statistical reports. In addition, over 60 in-house personal computer applications
have been created to automate office functions. Staff also have direct access to legal databases,
judicial decisions and citations. The IT Unit maintains the Office’s Intranet and Internet website
(www.bronxda.nyc.gov). A video teleconferencing system links all 12 Bronx police precincts andcertain police drug enforcement units to the District Attorney’s Complaint Room.>
The Bronx District Attorney's Office is a participating member of the Mayor’s DataShare initiative which strives to create
a state-of-the-art data sharing hub to enable agencies to incorporate formerly unobtainable data
into in-house applications. The Office continues to work closely with
DoITT (the New York City Department of Information Technology & Telecommunications) to
coordinate and upgrade technology. |
| Litigation Training Unit |
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| The Litigation Training Unit has been certified by the Continuing Legal Education Board of the New York State Office of Court Administration as an Accredited Provider of continuing legal education in New York. This privilege and responsibility is particularly significant since both newly recruited and veteran attorneys are required to obtain specified amounts of continuing legal education credit on an on-going basis to qualify for registration as an attorney admitted to practice in this state. One obvious benefit of the District Attorney’s in-house, on-site training is that the assistant district attorneys do not have to pay expensive fees or waste considerable time traveling to receive it. Most importantly, though, it provides the assistants with programs tailored to meet their highly specialized needs. For example, the unit conducts a variety of presentations designed to familiarize the new assistants with methods and practices particular to the criminal courts of Bronx County and New York State, and also conducts presentations designed to address issues encountered and skills needed by experienced assistants. In addition to training the District Attorney’s staff, the unit also gives training seminars to police officers to enhance their skills as investigators, familiarize them with courtroom procedures and inform them of revisions to pertinent New York State law.
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| Narcotics Bureau |
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| The Narcotics Bureau investigates and prosecutes felony offenses relating to possession and sale of controlled substances, including heroin and crack cocaine. The Bureau’s Narcotics Eviction Unit utilizes the "bawdy house" provisions of the New York State Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law to terminate the leases of individuals who use their apartments or commercial premises to sell, store or package illegal drugs. |
| Recruitment Unit |
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| The Recruitment Unit supervises and coordinates the application and hiring process for all new Bronx assistant district attorneys, law school interns and student legal assistants. |
| Video Unit |
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| The Video Unit is primarily responsible for providing 24-hour support to assistant district attorneys investigating homicides and other serious felonies. Technicians record on videotape crime scenes and statements by defendants and witnesses, and preserve them for use as evidence in court. The unit also provides technical support for courtroom presentations. This includes the playing of any audio and video tapes that become evidence, as well as tape enhancement to overcome acoustic problems in our courtrooms. In addition, the unit provides valuable assistance to prosecution bureaus by obtaining videotaped statements from hospitalized witnesses and victims. |