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Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York
Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York
	Incumbent; Bridget G. Brennan; since May 1, 1998; 26 years ago
Abbreviation	SNP
Member of	District Attorneys Association of the State of New York
Reports to	independent agency
Appointer	County District Attorneys (DA) of New York City: Bronx DA, Brooklyn DA, Manhattan DA, Queens DA, Staten Island DA
Formation	1971; 54 years ago
First holder	Frank J. Rogers
Deputy	Steven M. Goldstein, Chief Assistant District Attorney
Website	www.snpnyc.org

The Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York is a city-wide position appointed by the five county district attorneys of New York City. The office is responsible for the prosecution of felony violations of narcotics laws within New York City. The current holder of the office is Bridget G. Brennan.

History

The Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York (SNP) is appointed by the five district attorneys of New York City (Bronx District Attorney, Brooklyn District Attorney, Queens District Attorney, Staten Island District Attorney and Manhattan District Attorney).^[3] The office was created by Attorney General of New York Louis J. Lefkowitz under the governorship of Nelson Rockefeller.^[4]

The position of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York is notable in several ways:

It is a state level position, so it overrides the jurisdiction of the five county district attorneys who appoint the SNP, but its jurisdiction does not extend to the rest of the state.^[5]
It is a permanent special prosecutor / special deputy attorney general position created via executive orders, not via legislative action.^[5]
The office is staffed by assistant district attorneys assigned from each of the five borough district attorneys.^[6]

One of the better known cases associated with the Special Narcotics Prosecutor is that of Frank Lucas, which was fictionalized in the movie American Gangster.

List of office holders

Special Narcotics Prosecutor	Dates in office	Notes
Frank J. Rogers ^[7]	February 3, 1972 – May 2, 1975	First Special Narcotics Prosecutor
Sterling Johnson, Jr.^[8]^[9]	May 2, 1975 – 1991
Robert H. Silbering	1992 – November 1997
Bridget G. Brennan^[10]	May 1, 1998 – incumbent	Longest serving Special Narcotics Prosecutor

Partner agencies

As a prosecuting attorney office, the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor has its own Investigations Division, and works closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies including:^[11]

Drug Enforcement Administration
U.S. Postal Service
New York State Police
New York Drug Enforcement Task Force
Port Authority Police
New York City Police Department's Organized Crime Control Bureau
Homeland Security Investigations

References

^ "Members". District Attorneys Association of the State of New York. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
^ Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York. "Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York 2014 Annual Report" (PDF). NYC.gov. Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York. p. 34. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
^ "Special Narcotics". The New York County District Attorney's Office. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
^ Benjamin, Gerald; Brecher, Charles (1988). The Two New Yorks: State-City Relations in the Changing Federal System. Russell Sage Foundation. p. 493. ISBN 9781610440424. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
^ ^a ^b Nadjari, Maurice H. (Winter 1974). "New York State's Office of the Special Prosecutor: A Creation Born of Necessity" (PDF). Hofstra Law Review. 02 (1). Hofstra University School of Law: 97–128. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
^ Pascale, Anthony (September 22, 2017). "New study debunks myths about drug crisis on Staten Island". Spectrum News NY1. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
^ "Man in the News". New York Times. February 4, 1972. p. 36. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
^ Seigel, Max H. (May 3, 1975). "The New Narcotics Prosecutor". New York Times. p. 44. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
^ "Johnson, Sterling, Jr. - Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
^ Christopher S. Wren (May 1, 1998). "City's Acting Drug Prosecutor To Take Over Top Post Today". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
^ "Audit of the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York Equitable Sharing Program Activities New York, New York" (PDF). Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Justice. pp. 2, 4. Retrieved 7 March 2018.