Our speaker this morning was Suffolk District Attorney Thomas J. Spota. Mr. Spota began by telling us that his office and the group of 188 prosecuting attorneys that he has in his unit needed to respond t0 55,000 arrests that were made last year. That number has even been higher in the past.

Spota was pleased with amount of enforcement cooperation he gets from the Suffolk Police as well as the sheriffs department and state police units. His command does not operate in a vacuum.

Gangs, drugs, and guns are causes for much of his prosecutions. Gun possession is pervasive according to Tom. He supports the police efforts to get guns off the streets. He supports the right to bear arms, but he believes that regulation is a must.

Intoxicated drivers, whether the abuse is alcohol, or drugs pose great threats to the driving public. He gave few examples of irresponsible driving, one of which was a drunk driver who was clocked at 86 miles pre hour going through Sayville. That incident ended in a head on crash while driving in the opposing lane killing one person and leaving another in critical condition. These driving offenses are now extended to drunk boating. The police marine units and the US Coast Guard are expanding the reach of law enforcement on the water.

Regarding drunk driving he has now embraced the concept of using homicide as a charge in some cases. His counterpart in Nassau County was first to use the charge of homicide in drunk driving cases and Spota agrees with the reasoning.

Mr. Spota has also perused mortgage fraud, which is a problem of no small proportions. Lastly he talked about bookkeeper fraud. There are numerous businesses and not-for-profit groups that have been victimized by someone in the company that has held a financial position. According to the District Attorney this kind of theft happens a lot.

Ernie Fazio

The guest co-host and sponsor was Gershow Recycling and Kevin Gershowitz. Bill Miller and myself devised the guest host idea with the purpose of having a group of people to perpetuate the organization as we go forward. Kevin did a great job and was obviously comfortable in the role.