October 20, 2005

DILLON ANNOUNCES:

RESULTS OF SUCCESSFUL UNDERCOVER OPERATION TARGETING STREET DEALERS IN HEMPSTEAD

Nassau County District Attorney Denis Dillon, Hempstead Mayor Wayne Hall and Hempstead Police Chief James Russo announced today the results of a successful undercover operation targeted at street narcotic dealers in the Village of Hempstead.

According to Dillon, "This Operation, which began in January of 2005, resulted in 117 arrests, of which 4 were juveniles, and 6 were gang members (Bloods and Crips), and the execution of ten search warrants. The investigation achieved the arrest of 5 (five) significant drug suppliers. In addition, we seized crack cocaine, marijuana, heroin, nine (9) loaded handguns and one shotgun. To date, 55 of the 117 defendants have pled guilty, with the remaining cases still pending."

"This investigation had two facets," said Dillon. "One was arresting street dealers in the Hempstead community and then pursuing their source of supply to identify and arrest the persons putting the drugs in the hands of these street dealers. The second phase was to saturate the areas affected by street dealing with police patrols to deter persons from congregating to buy or sell drugs."

This operation was funded by the expenditure of over $136,000 from the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office forfeiture funds. The DA’s Civil forfeiture Unit ensures that those who commit crimes do not profit from their illegal activities. The proceeds and instrumentalities of criminal activities are seized and used to fund operations such as this and the Hempstead Enhanced Patrol project.

"According to Forbes Magazine and FBI statistics, Nassau County has the lowest crime rate in the nation, of counties of one million or more people," said Dillon. "However, there are communities that do have higher crime rates in comparison. To that end, for years I have been funding operations such as this and the Hempstead Patrol Project which help supply additional man power by paying the overtime and investigation costs. These arrests and seizures would not have taken place without the funding made available by my office, which ironically I seized from criminals."

"Hempstead Police Chief James Russo stated, "Because of the continuing undercover drug operations being conducted in the Village of Hempstead with the assistance of District Attorney Denis Dillon’s office, we have seen a noticeable decline in drug activity. This is not the first and will not be the last operation of this type."