Trial Division

Major Crime Bureau - The SCDA’s flagship felony prosecutions bureau; MCB is responsible for a broad variety of crime, including sexual assaults, arsons, burglaries, grand larcenies, DWIs, robberies, and gun charges. MCB staff also contributes to the broader office mission by taking on specialized assignments and on-call duties, such as our Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) team that reviews and forwards applications to keep weapons away from unstable individuals, our school safety task force that assists school districts with terroristic threats, and our Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) prosecution team that guides non-familial sexual assaults from case inception.

Child Abuse/Domestic Violence Bureau - CADVB investigates and prosecutes all felony cases involving the physical and sexual abuse of children under age 17, as well as all cases involving intimate partner and family violence. The Bureau’s mission also includes working with the Suffolk County Police Department’s Homicide Squad in the investigation and prosecution of infant homicides. Many of CADVB’s cases require expertise in the areas of child sexual abuse syndrome, battered child syndrome, shaken baby syndrome, battered women’s syndrome, and rape trauma syndrome.

East End Bureau - With two branch offices in Southold and Hampton Bays, the East End Bureau is responsible for the prosecution and disposition of all criminal and traffic cases before the ten Town and Village Justice Courts of the five easternmost townships. This ensures that Suffolk’s Peconic Bay region gets localized attention that is highly responsive to its varied individual community needs.

Homicide Bureau - The Homicide Bureau, which was re-established in 2022 by DA Tierney, is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of all manner of homicides; from intentional murder to criminally negligent homicide. A homicide ADA is on call at all times to respond to crime scenes and to provide legal advice to the investigating agency. ADAs also prepare search warrants, subpoenas, technical orders, and any other legal filing that is needed for a homicide investigation. The bureau additionally investigates all non-fatal police-involved shootings.

Central Islip Division

District Court Bureau - The District Court Bureau covers the consolidated caseload of the 5 western town and the 15 western villages of Suffolk County. By volume, it handles the lion’s share of criminal dockets handled by the SCDA. Most offenses covered by this bureau are misdemeanor and quality-of-life crimes, though the bureau also staffs various specialty courts, including those involved in treating addiction and mental health-based crimes.

Intake and Discovery Compliance - This bureau is most often the SCDA’s first “touch” on a criminal case, acting as a liaison bureau with they county’s 25+ law enforcement agencies to bring in cases and prepare all required filings. The bureau staffs arraignment operations, grand jury operations, and all case intake processing for the office. Bureau staff are required to work 24/7/365 in order to serve the public, law enforcement, and any legal requirements needed in the off-hours.

Criminal Investigations Division

Violent Criminal Enterprise Bureau - Formed on DA Tierney’s first day in office as a comprehensive investigative and litigation solution to the epidemic of gun and gang violence in Suffolk County, VCEB uses fusion reconnaissance tactics to infiltrate and disrupt enterprise tradecraft that has too long trafficked illegal firearms and lethal substances to our communities. The bureau collaborates with the DA’s Gang Violence Task Force as well as the Suffolk County Police and Sheriff Departments to make sure it can achieve root-to-leaf takedowns of organized crime.

Narcotics Bureau - The DA’s reformed Narcotics Bureau has been unleashed on traffickers who kill our friends and family. Through partnerships with the DA’s East End Drug Task Force and Heroin Prevention Task Force, as well as the Suffolk County Police Department’s Narcotics Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, the Narcotic’s Bureau’s mission is to break the pipeline by crippling key suppliers with impactful prosecutions.

Special Investigations Division

Financial Crimes Bureau - Phishing attacks, identity thefts, frauds, jail bail schemes - all the random predatory behavior that makes our hardworking residents seethe. FCB is our premiere white collar crimes shop, comprised of specialized prosecutors, investigative auditors, accountants, and financial crime detectives. Whether pursuing tax scams or identity theft, FCB staff throws the full force of law at criminal behavior.

Public Corruption Bureau - PCB is the county’s exclusive oversight shop, responsible for criminal malfeasance, misfeasance, and nonfeasance by public officials from any layer of government.

Vehicular Crime Bureau - Housed within special investigation due to the extreme amount of technical proficiency required for crash data analysis and information recovery, VCB stand somber watch over our roadways. The bureau will investigate any vehicular incident that results in death or serious physical injury. Prosecutors are involved vertically from inception of each case, responding to crash scenes and securing search warrants sometimes within minutes of response.

Asset Forfeiture Bureau - The expression “crime doesn’t pay” is only true if we work to make it true. Our asset forfeiture team works to seize, through civil processes and judgments, all illegal proceeds of crimes and all assets of criminal enterprises. This money is then poetically turned against the criminal enterprises through awareness campaigns, specialized details, buy money, and other law enforcement purposes.

Conviction Integrity Division

Conviction Integrity Bureau - This vital bureau oversees secondary reviews of criminal convictions; whether pursuing a claim of actual innocence or a claim of wrongful conviction due to a fundamental unfairness with the trial process.

Appeals & Training Bureau - In addition to managing the typical appeals processes, ATB prosecutors adeptly handle applications regarding conviction expungement, release from custody, stay of proceedings, actual innocence claims, and sex offender registration, to name a few. That reactive caseload does not include the proactive “People’s appeals” that often need to be taken against adverse judgments believed to be erroneous. ATB’s Psychiatric Litigation Unit also assists all bureaus when a defendant’s mental condition (whether at the time of the incident or trial) is an issue and handles any civil commitments for those who may not be guilty because of a mental disease or defect. Finally, staff training and guidance never truly ends - ATB conducts regular training for our prosecutors throughout the office and is routinely consulted by all bureaus on thorny legal issues.

Priority Units

BEAST - In spring 2022, DA Tierney formed a first-of-its-kind ecological crime unit that would be responsible for all crimes investigated and prosecuted under the Environmental Conservation Law and Agriculture and Markets Laws of New York State. Staffed with dedicated detectives and specialized prosecutors, the Biological, Environmental & Animal Safety Team (BEAST) works with outside agencies - including the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, the Pine Barrens Commission, the Suffolk County Police Department, the Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the American Society for Prevention to Cruelty to Animals, the Humane Society of the United States, the New York State Animal Protection Federation, and countless veterinarians, rescues, and shelters across New York State.

HEAT - In August 2022, DA Tierney formed a new prosecution unit in order to centralize, track and better combat all crimes committed against members of protected classes (as recognized by state and federal human rights laws). Named HEAT, the unit focuses upon predatory behavior that targets victims by age, gender, national origin, disability, ethnicity, sexuality, religious practice, race, or cultural background. Staffed with seasoned prosecutors with violent crime and special victims backgrounds, HEAT ensures the utmost level of protection against bias and hate crimes in Suffolk County, so that all our residents may enjoy a life free from violence, harassment, and intimidation.