So Far, Ken Thompson Is the Only DA to Meet With Families For Safe Streets

With Families For Safe Streets appealing to New York City's five district attorneys to prosecute dangerous drivers who injure or kill, one DA has opened his doors to them.

At a City Hall rally last Sunday, Families For Safe Streets announced that Thompson is launching the District Attorney Driver Accountability Initiative. "The new initiative is designed to address issues relative to Brooklyn," said Thompson spokesperson Helen Peterson. "We have met with representatives of Families For Safe Streets and Transportation Alternatives and all of the five requests... are being discussed."

That meeting was held in mid-December after Mohammad Uddin, 14, became the third student at M.S. 51 in Brooklyn to be struck and killed by a driver in 13 months. Council Member Brad Lander initiated the sit-down with Thompson at the request of the Uddin family. Thompson is hosting a follow-up meeting with the families, legislators, and other law enforcement experts on January 29.

"We need for the DAs to consistently hold reckless drivers who kill and injure accountable. The DAs have only brought a handful of cases each year," said Amy Cohen of Families For Safe Streets. "The Brooklyn DA has said he will increase enforcement and we demand that others do the same."

At the event on Sunday, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer said she would help FFSS gain traction with the Manhattan DA. "I'm a big fan, I have to say, of Cy Vance, so we will figure out why he's not prosecuting in the way that has been suggested by the Brooklyn district attorney," Brewer said. "As Manhattan borough president, I will take that on as an agenda item."

Update: After publication, Vance spokesperson Joan Vollero offered a statement: "The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has been in touch with Families For Safe Streets to arrange a meeting, as we have previously with Transportation Alternatives and families members. Our door is always open."

After a loved one is killed, families say they often feel cut out of the process that determines consequences for drivers. Families For Safe Streets is calling on the DAs to use "restorative justice" programs, which involve mediation and commonly offer alternative sentencing to juvenile offenders with the approval of the victim's family. The goal of these programs isn't to mete out harsh jail terms but to prevent repeat behavior in the future, and Families For Safe Streets wants to see this approach expanded to vehicular violence cases.

When Streetsblog followed up after the rally, DAs didn't respond directly to the request for restorative justice techniques. "We always use the input of our victims to determine an appropriate plea," said Bronx DA spokesperson Terry Raskyn.

Another request from families of crash victims is for the DAs to systematically compile and share data about charges and outcomes in vehicular violence cases. The Bronx DA's office said it's making progress on that front. Its information technology department is working to change its filing systems so vehicular crimes can be categorized separately for analysis.