The era of progressive prosecutors is a failed experiment. Neighborhoods fell apart, crime soared, businesses fled, and residents were unsafe. Angry voters are electing Pragmatic Prosecutors, attorneys who vow to get tough on crime and restore law and order. This Washington Examiner series highlights some of the new men and women who say they’re bringing change for the better. Part 2 takes a look at Albany, New York. Read Part 1 here.
EXCLUSIVE — Lee Kindlon, who is Albany, New York’s newest district attorney, is taking lessons he learned as a U.S. Marine and applying them to his position as the county’s top officer.
His mission is to train an elite team of prosecutors, support staff, and investigators to be rock-solid in the cases they prosecute and then trust them to make sound decisions.
Strategic corporal
It’s a concept known as “strategic corporal,” and he is using it with the roughly 30 attorneys working under him.
It refers to the idea that even a low-ranking Marine can make important decisions on the battlefield that have major implications for the overall operation. It also emphasizes the importance of leadership and highlights the action and impact one person can make.
He tells his staff, “I’m going to train you, and then I am going to trust you because you are going to have to make those decisions when you are out there, and I don’t want you to second-guess yourself.”
Kindlon, who has been on the job for about a month, is part of a wave of Democratic prosecutors who made a conscious shift to the middle. Gone are the days of letting crime slide in the name of reform. This new group of district attorneys and state attorneys are acutely aware the public doesn’t feel safe and that some communities have deep-rooted trust problems with law enforcement. Striking the right balance is key, Kindlon told the Washington Examiner in a wide-ranging interview.
“We will add resources to major crimes to address violent crime, gang violence, and the gun problems that plague our streets. We’re going to reestablish the financial crimes bureau to tackle things like wage theft and scams that target our seniors,” he said. “We’re going to lean in on the organized retail crime task force because we know the large-scale retail theft is funding the criminal activity in the city of Albany.”
He is also big on accountability.
Before becoming Albany County’s most “pragmatic” district attorney in two decades, Kindlon was a private practice attorney, the town’s Little League coach, and a decorated member of the military. He received his commission during law school and returned to active duty in 2003. He worked as a judge advocate and then as the prosecutor at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. In September 2005, he deployed to Iraq as a battalion judge advocate and was stationed in Fallujah until April 2006. Now, as part of the Marine Corps Reserve, he is a colonel and serves as deputy head of the Preliminary Hearing Detachment.
Kindlon defeated fellow Democrat David Soares in June’s pivotal primary, denying the longtime district attorney a sixth four-year term. In the general election, Kindlon received 61% of the vote, defeating Republican challenger Ralph Ambrosio, who captured 35%.
Kindlon said voters experienced “fatigue” with Soares and that his progressive policies went nowhere.
No excuses on his watch
“Whenever he couldn’t solve a problem, there was always an excuse,” Kindlon said. “There was always a reason why he couldn’t get it done, yet when people voted him in 20 years ago, it was to fix those very problems. He had turned into another politician who had excuses and one who was also helping himself to trough.”
Soares was accused of using taxpayer-funded state grants to give himself sizable bonuses over the years. He described his very public downfall as a “political hit job” and moved to Atlanta after losing both the primary and his write-in campaign in the general election.
Kindlon believes he was voted in because the public “understood that my allegiance and dedication to the criminal justice system was pure.”
They also knew it was time for a pivot from the policies of the past.
“I had a real working knowledge of the system, so what I promised from Day 1 was to bring a real pragmatic set of solutions to the problems that face us today,” he said. “The violence problem, the absolute need for restorative justice to help people out if they’ve made a mistake, and kick it back to the center, and people responded to that.”
Kindlon, who was sworn in late December, has also pledged full transparency. He’s already asked the county comptroller for a full audit of the district attorney’s office and has hired a compliance officer who doubles as a “sounding board” when it comes to actions he wants to take.
He also has a “very open relationship” with the state legislature and is clear about how much money is needed and what it is being spent on. Kindlon has also opened up his press office to let the public know about victories and convictions his office has secured.
“We need to get out there and show people that we are doing the hard work and they know that the crime problem is being worked on,” Kindlon said. “I want people to know that there’s a DA’s office out here who is trying to fix the problem, not just brag that the problem is being solved. I want people to see how it’s going to be fixed.”
Targeting the big players
Kindlon is laser-focused on stopping the pipeline of guns and drugs into Albany County, located about 150 miles north of Manhattan. Albany is in a unique spot, near Interstates 87 and 90, making it easy for guns and drugs to come down from Canada and Vermont and up from Ohio and parts of the South. He said it’s easy to get one or two guns off the street but that he’s got his eyes on something bigger.
“I want to go upstream, and I want to work with the U.S. attorney’s office and work with the attorney general’s office,” he said. “I want to find those guys who are bringing in guns eight or nine at a time and go after them with larger conspiracy-based prosecutions.”
He has a similar plan for drug dealers.
“You can get a guy here and there for carrying a small amount, but I want to go after some of the larger players because those are the ones who are really causing the harm,” he added.
Julie Novkov, dean of Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the University at Albany, State University of New York System, told the Washington Examiner that Kindlon’s approach seems to be heading in the right direction.
“That’s the right strategy because, often, you have prosecutors going after the easy, low-hanging fruit, but that doesn’t go so far as to solve the bigger problems,” she said.
While Novkov praised Kindlon’s efforts at greater transparency, she said it was “a little early to tell” if his promise will lead to action.
“If he really does follow through with this and if we do actually see that transparency emerging on the ground, I do think that would be a very good thing for his office and for people to understand the work that he is doing and his own legitimacy,” she added.
Kindlon is also big on alternative treatment courts, which have been gaining traction across the country. They are an alternative to incarceration that combines public health and public safety with individualized, evidence-based treatment and recovery.
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He wants such courts for at-risk youth and veterans.
There are about 20,000 veterans living in Albany, a county with a population of 316,659, according to the latest census figures.
