Getting Staten Island Its Fair Share
of Criminal Justice Funding

DA McMahon delivered on his promise to fight for Staten Island in City Hall by successfully securing more than a 60% budget increase. This funding has transformed the office in dozens of ways and increased the number of ADAs from 45 to 74.

Creating a
Veterans Court

Veteran’s Treatment Court is a problem-solving court created in November 2016 by DA McMahon in partnership with the Office of Court Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Defense Bar, and local veterans community stakeholders to help Veterans charged with low-level crimes, get their lives back on track. This court recognizes the unique challenge and sacrifice of our veterans and offers supportive services, a veteran peer mentor, and alternatives to incarceration options to veterans as a resolution to their criminal case.

Heroin Overdose Prevention &
Education (HOPE) Program

DA McMahon spearheaded efforts to create the Heroin Overdose Prevention & Education (HOPE) program, an innovative pre-arraignment diversion program that expands access to treatment and redirects low-level drug offenders to community-based health services instead of moving forward with the prosecution of their case. HOPE’s success has led to the program expanding citywide and to the creation of HOPE 2.0, which expands the model to include a wider universe of eligible participants in post-arraignment cases, as well as the Staten Island Overdose Avoidance and Recovery Court (OAR).

Creating a Domestic Violence
Bureau

DA McMahon created the office’s first Domestic Violence Bureau and Victims Services Unit, and implemented new policies designed to ensure that victims are connected with services as soon as possible. Under his leadership, domestic violence arrests have declined by 20%.

Holding Drug Dealers
Accountable

DA McMahon worked with the NYPD to create the Overdose Response Initiative, which investigates every overdose like a crime scene. This initiative has led to 8 major drug takedowns with over 100 of the most dangerous drug dealers arrested and prosecuted for peddling poison on Staten Island. This initiative has now been expanded citywide.

Starting a Community Partnerships
Unit

DA McMahon created this borough’s first Community Partnership Unit, which has made building bridges of trust and communication with the public a top priority. This Unit has launched dozens of initiatives to prevent crime and raise public awareness to the resources available at the DAs office.

Family Justice
Center

Under DA McMahon’s leadership, the Staten Island Family Justice Center finally opened in 2016. This site is a one-stop help center, providing wrap-around assistance, safety, health and legal services in an inviting setting near the home of victims and survivors of domestic violence, sex trafficking, and elder abuse.

Increase Public Awareness
about the Opioid Crisis

DA McMahon has made combatting the heroin and prescription drug crisis a central focus of the DA’s office and has implemented several groundbreaking and innovative initiatives to that end. Among them, he’s invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in public awareness campaigns and community initiatives to educate and facilitate a reduction in opioid misuse, including funding the placement of prescription drop off boxes in community pharmacies and the launch of SIHOPE.org, a grassroots campaign to unify a community response to the drug epidemic and a one-stop-shop website of resources for the community.

Hate Crimes
Taskforce

Recognizing the increase in hate crimes nationwide and the impact that has on a community as diverse as Staten Island, DA McMahon has fulfilled his promise of tackling the issue of hate crimes – both by prosecuting these crimes to the fullest extent of the law, but in working to prevent these hate fueled acts from occurring to begin with. DA McMahon launched the Staten Island Hate Crimes Task Force, a group made up of dozens of Staten Islands from diverse communities, who have come together to as ambassadors to educate and inform others with a message that we on Staten Island are unified against hate and intolerance.

Saturday
Sessions

We know that by offering safe and constructive options for our youth to learn and play, they are less likely to become involved in illegal activities including drugs and gang violence. So, to make this a reality, DA McMahon launched Saturday Sessions to keep the doors of the Gerard Carter Community Center open free high-quality fitness training, basketball, dancing, use of a recording studio, academic support and advocacy services, and more on Saturday nights from 6:00 – 10:00 PM throughout the school year for students aged 11-18. .

Animal Cruelty &
Prosecution Unit

The RCDA Animal Cruelty Prosecution Unit was created in April 2016 by DA McMahon. The purpose of this Unit is to investigate and prosecute crimes against animals, to highlight and increase awareness of animal abuse, to educate the community about available resources and programs that could prevent neglect, abuse, and injury to animals, and to develop and facilitate relationships with Staten Islanders and local veterinarians to encourage the reporting of animal abuse by speaking for those who have no voice.

Taking Guns Off
Our Streets

In addition to traditional gun violence prevention strategies like Gun Buy Back programs, DA McMahon created a Unit with experienced prosecutors dedicated to pursuing firearms cases. This Unit helps identify drivers of shooting and gun-violence incidents using data and analytics, which directs their prosecutorial strategy as well as community-specific efforts aimed at reducing gun-violence on our streets. These efforts have led to a dramatic drop in shootings in the last three years.

Elder Abuse
Unit

Fulfilling his promise of protecting our seniors, DA McMahon launched the Elder Abuse Unit, which investigates and prosecutes crimes committed against senior citizens, including both financial and physical crimes. This unit works closely with the Community Partnership Unit to raise awareness of the types of crimes that typically target seniors on Staten Island. Often, these involve phone scams and various types of financial fraud.