Richmond County District Attorney's Office - Press Release for June 18, 2007

Staten Island’s DA Leads City of New York in Prosecution of Drunk Drivers – New York State DMV
***District Attorney Donovan’s Office Leads 5 Boroughs With 61.38% Conviction Rate, 3rd Consecutive Year at Top of City’s Prosecutors***

STATEN ISLAND, NY – Richmond County District Attorney Daniel M. Donovan, Jr. today announced that according to statistics released by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles his office leads the five boroughs of the City of New York in the conviction of drivers accused of alcohol related offenses with a 61.38 conviction rate. The Richmond County District Attorney’s office also led the city in 2005 and 2004 with conviction rates of 62.78% and 53.41%, respectively.

“When I was a candidate for District Attorney, I told the people of this community that I would aggressively target the drunk drivers who endanger all of our lives on the road, stated District Attorney Donovan, “We’ve lived up to that commitment by leading the City in conviction rate each year I have been in office, and for the first time, this borough is consistently convicting more than half of those accused of driving while intoxicated or impaired.”

According to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, in the ten years prior to District Attorney Donovan’s term in office, from 1994-2003, the Richmond County District Attorney’s office ranked last in the City of New York a total of four times and never placed above a second ranked finish, which it achieved twice.

A cornerstone of District Attorney Donovan’s term in office has been to seek enhanced penalties, especially jail time, for repeat drunk driving offenders. “To get repeat offenders off the road, it is a priority to obtain a conviction the first time they are arrested and get the message across that there are serious consequences for getting behind the wheel after drinking,” stated D.A. Donovan. “To that end we’re making sure that our prosecutors are properly trained to handle these cases and that the police are bringing in as much evidence as possible and that it is properly collected.”

2006 NYS DMV Conviction Rates for Alcohol Related Driving Offenses

Borough	Total DWI/DWAI*	Conviction Rate	Rank in NYC
Staten Island	593	61.38%	1
Bronx	850	51.18%	2
Queens	2905	45.03%	3
Manhattan	1273	40.30%	4
Brooklyn	1935	40.05%	5
	Citywide Average:	47.58%

* Statistic refers to the combined totals of individuals arrested for the crimes of (DWAI) Driving While Ability Impaired or (DWI) Driving While Intoxicated.

DWI/DWAI Staten Island Conviction Rates 1994-2006

Year

Conviction Rate

Rank in NYC (of 5)

2006

61.38

1

2005

62.78

1

2004

53.41

1

2003

41.61

5

2002

43.18

4

2001

45.64

3

2000

49.74

2

1999

N/A

3

1998

46.55

2

1997

38.54

5

1996

33.78

5

1995

37.89

5

1994

37.67

4

Years in RED refer to Donovan Administration

Source: NYS DMV DATA Services

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