I am glad to have the opportunity to tell you about the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office. I am proud of the work we do here and the people who staff our office. We are charged with the responsibility of representing “the people” in the criminal justice system. Hopefully, our website will provide you with some insight into how our organization operates. Before you go any further, I’d like to share with you some details about the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office.

San Bernardino County is geographically the largest county in the 48 contiguous United States. Because of the size of the County, the District Attorney's Office has several branch offices to meet the needs of all the county's residents. In addition to San Bernardino, they are: Chino, Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, Barstow, Bear Valley, Needles, Morongo, Victorville and Juvenile (San Bernardino, Rancho Cucamonga and Victorville).

Public safety is of major concern to the residents of San Bernardino County, as well as to the District Attorney's Office. Here are a few examples of the types of units that help us protect the public’s safety: The Major Crimes Unit, which handles the most serious murder cases; the Career Criminal Unit that ensures those who make a habit of committing crimes are punished appropriately, including “Three-strikes cases”; our Special Fraud Unit that handles “White Collar Crime;” the Truancy Unit; and, our Check Restitution Program, which deals with bad checks and those who write them.

Since taking office, I have added a Public Integrity Unit to handle political corruption and a Lifer Parole Hearing Unit to ensure that violent prisoners serve their maximum prison terms. I have also expanded our Gang Units to all three of our major offices, as well as Fontana. In 2007, we implemented a Gang Injunction Unit, which will target gangs in unincorporated areas of the county and use civil abatement methods to assist in ridding the County of gangs. Due to the increase in identity theft, I have implemented an Identity Theft Unit with attorneys in our three major offices. In addition, the office boasts a highly successful volunteer program. Our Victim Services Unit provides assistance to victims as they make their way through the criminal justice system. They are always only a phone call away.

In addition, we have expanded our Family Violence Unit, which was a pilot program that began in our Victorville office. Now, we have units in all three of our major offices. The units are comprised of attorneys who are cross-trained in elder abuse, domestic violence and crimes against children. We are also discussing the possibility of expanding our Cold Case Unit to deal with the increase in cold cases that are being solved due to new technology, such as DNA. These are important cases because, to a victim or a victim’s family, a case is never “cold.” We would also like to see our Environmental Crimes Unit beefed up to deal with the crimes involving illegal dumping and other crimes that negatively impact our environment. By “Going Green” the District Attorney’s Office can help protect the health of our residents.

I hope you enjoy your visit to our web site. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.