Career prosecutor Raymond A. Tierney, Jr. was sworn in as Suffolk County District Attorney on Sunday, January 2. The event took place at St. Anthony’s High School at 275 Wolf Hill Road in Melville.
“I went out into the communities, and I met with the people,” said Tierney, who ran on the Republican and Conservative lines and soundly defeated the incumbent Democrat. “Shock upon shock, everyone wants the same thing from their district attorney,” Tierney quipped. “They want their communities to be safe. They want their quality of life to increase. And they want to be treated fairly.”
The newly elected Tierney, a St. Anthony’s Alumni, used the engagement as a way to move past the campaigning and even his own impressive record and toward what he plans to bring to the office.
“We’re going to do that; we’re going to prosecute cases fairly and aggressively,” said Tierney.
Tierney brings with him to the office an impressive prosecutorial career that spans three decades and involves all manner of criminal prosecutions.
The campaign for District Attorney was a part of the ‘red wave’ that swept Suffolk County mirroring the national trend. The red wave also flipped the county legislature in favor of the Republican caucus.
Tierney ran against much of the recent legislation from Albany, including ‘bail-reform’ and a repeal of section 50- a. Many in local government blame these changes for an increase in crime and ease of release for criminal defendants.
In a similar fashion, Nassau County also saw a Republican challenger beat her Democratic opponent. These parallel races featured the same issues with similar candidates.
With an experienced prosecutor at the helm of the district attorney’s office, it will be interesting to note the changes at the District Attorney’s office. The newly elected district attorney faulted the previous office for not prosecuting aggressively enough. Whether or not we will see a decrease in deals extended to defendants or an uptick in prosecutions will determine how big of a shift has really taken place in the position.
Tierney also takes power simultaneously with a newly appointed police commissioner, and the first black Police Commissioner in Suffolk County history, Rodney K. Harrison. The relationship the two develop could determine much of both their potential successes or failures.
There are also trends statewide and nationally towards criminal justice that could conflict with Tierney’s ability to prosecute as he sees fit.
Despite new potential challenges and untested relationships, Suffolk County Republican and Conservative parties exude nothing but confidence in Tierney’s election. One Smithtown Republican committeeman remarked, “There is currently nothing but excitement at one Tierney’s election means for Suffolk County.”
There were some pandemic-related issues that flared up during the campaign such as the increase in opioid usage.
“Suffolk County leads the New York metropolitan area in heroin and opioid hospitalizations and opioid deaths,” said Tierney in a campaign video. “With all of the resources here in Suffolk, this is unacceptable.”
Tierney then emphasized he would target drug dealers as soon as they present a threat to the community.
“Lastly, I will work with outside agencies to get those the help they need.”
Tierney beat incumbent DA Democrat Timothy D Sini, who also ran on the Keep Crime Low party line. Sini was elected in 2017 to the office after the retirement of the disgraced District Attorney Thomas Spota resigned. In 2016, he was appointed to the position of Suffolk County Police Commissioner after the resignation of James Burke. Burke left after a series of scandals.
The final vote count was 160,338 to 128,789. The percent break down was 55.46% to 44.54%. By party line, the breakdown was 43.65% for the Republican line, 11.80% for the Conservative line, 43.43% for the Democratic line and 1.12% for the Keep Crime Low line.
