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Brooklyn’s District Attorney Eric Gonzalez Reassures Community Leaders that He will Stay Tough on Hate Crime

Brooklyn’s District Attorney Eric Gonzalez Reassures Community Leaders that He will Stay Tough on Hate Crime

By Yehudit Garmaise

     Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez met with community leaders from Shomrim, Chaverim, and Hatzolah at Misaskim’s Headquarters  Wednesday, to receive thanks and appreciation for finding and prosecuting so quickly the three perpetrators of anti-Semitic hate crimes on May 22 in Boro Park and Flatbush.

     By May 26, all three boys were charged with crimes, and by June 7, they were all indicted, which means that they were formally charged with committing serious crimes.

     “In the beginning of the summer, when many hate crimes were taking place people were scared to death, but Brooklyn’s District Attorney Eric Gonzalez immediately found the perpetrators, took them to a grand jury and indicted the guys, who are awaiting their trial,” explained Berish Freilich, who served as the director for community affairs for the New York state police for 18 years: under the administrations of every governor since George Pataki. “

     Mr. Gonzalez, who has served as Brooklyn’s district attorney since 2017, was able to serve justice so swiftly because he is the only district attorney in New York City to employ a team of 10 senior investigators who work on hate crimes.

    "Everyone is dealing with hate crimes, but our DA is the only one who has such a team of senior investigators who focus only on solving them," said Mr. Freilich,  who is officially retired from the New York state police force, but continues to serve as the official liaison to both 66th precinct and the state police.. "He hired those 10 himself, and they report directly to him or to one of his chiefs.

   "We feel that we have a department that cares and takes action immediately, and the same thing with the state police."

     How did Gonzalez, respond to the community's expression of thanks for the seriousness with which they take anti-Semitic hate crimes and requests to continue swift action that results in prosecutions?

     “[Mr. Gonzalez] said, ‘100%: I am the only one who has a hate crime unit, and any hate crime we take extremely seriously because we have a special unit for that and that is the way we work fast.’

     “We asked him to continue to do what he is doing, which he promised he would do. He said, that he “is very much on top of any situations in the Jewish community.” He is a real true friend. He is tough and fair.”

     Gonzalez, who has some jurisdiction over Brooklynites, who are sometimes Jewish, who are incarcerated for 24 hours through the booking process, also said that he will do anything he can to make sure that Jews receive kosher food and tefillin.

     “I believe that religious rights are very important,” said Mr. Gonzalez, who also supports a reform of the current no-bail laws, which he said “are a problem and create a  lot of new issues in crime. He wants to be tougher on crimes, and he believes the penalties should be a lot tougher: especially for hate crimes.

     What can Jews do to better protect ourselves, BoroPark24 asked?

     “Pray to our Basheffer, rely on the police department and our district attorney’s office,” said Mr. Freilich, who added that Yidden should remember to always try to make a Kiddushei Hashem and remember they are always being watched, including when deciding where to park and when.

     One Kiddush Hashem the community makes in a huge way, Mr. Frelich pointed out, is its extreme rates of crime and homelessness, especially compared with what is going on in the rest of the city.

     “No other community has a low a crime rate as us,” said Mr. Freilich, who said that securing protection against hate crimes is the neighborhood’s biggest crime issue. “We obey the law, we work along with the police department and law enforcement agencies and the district attorney’s office, and we try to keep the community safe.


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