Kathleen Rice – August 12, 2011
 

Nassau County DA, Kathleen Rice, was our speaker this morning at a meeting we held at Adelphi. Kathleen asked what message she could deliver to the business community as District Attorney. It was question that was answered by the fact that law enforcement allows for honest business people to prosper.

DA Rice began by talking about white collar crime. The term sounds genteel but the damage done to society can be deep and pervasive. She does not consider white collar crime any less important than outright thuggery. Another big agenda item with Kathleen is drunk driving. This crime is cateregorized as a felony, largely

because of her efforts. Ignition interlock is a system that was implemented by her office to prevent a drunk driver from driving his or her car. It’s not fool proof and it does not detect other drugs, but most impaired driving is still caused by alcohol consumption

According to Ms Rice drug use and street sales of drugs have resulted in a heavy prison population that would be better handled as rehab, and re-education cases. At the same time those programs while breaking the cycle of conviction, jail, and repeat arrests are cheaper to administer.

In dealing with juvenile crime has taken a softer approach. She is convinced that juvenile incarceration only makes the problems a youthful offender may have are doomed to get worse with incarceration. The "Youth Corp" that was begun during her watch addresses most youth problems better and cheaper than incarceration.

The veterans are also a concern of hers. The veterans come back from battle with mental wounds that are deeper and more life changing than the loss of a limb. For this effort the "Veterans Corp" was created. Many of these vets are on drugs or using alcohol. It serves no one to treat these vets, who have already given much, to treat their afflictions in the criminal justice system

She brought to our attention the use of prescription drugs by young people. A lot of the drugs were legally obtained by another family member that needed them fore pain or treatment for a traumatic experience. The over prescribing by doctors of these drugs aggravates the problem. There is also the presentation of phony Rx’s that are presented to the druggist for controlled substances. Again the approach is better if it is more to rehabilitate than to be punitive.

Lastly Rice discussed human trafficking. A problem that most of us are not very aware of, but according to Rice it is a big problem and widespread. It is a problem that her office has made some inroads against.

Next week we have a very important meeting that will be held at our usual location in the Holiday Inn. The discussion will be about a major redevelopment plan in Islip. Please be there as this could mean opportunities for many local businesses. Announcement was in this week’s LIBN. Look for your email Monday

Ernie Fazio