A conversation with Madeline Singas

Acting D.A. talks crime, prosecution and policing

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Madeline Singas, Nassau County’s new acting district attorney, stopped by Herald Community Newspapers’ Garden City office last Thursday for a discussion with editors and reporters about the views, goals and strategies she brings to the job. The conversation touched on topics from gun violence to illegal drugs, police practices, public corruption and what Singas sees as the need for “smart prosecution,” from crime-prevention strategies to alternatives to jailing young, non-violent offenders.

Background
Singas, 48, became Nassau’s top prosecutor last month, when Kathleen Rice left the D.A.’s post for a seat in the 114th U.S. Congress. In 2006, Rice hired Singas to head the D.A.’s Special Victims Bureau, and in 2011, she appointed Singas chief assistant D.A., the office’s number two position. From 1991 to 2006, Singas was an assistant D.A. in Queens, serving the last five years as deputy chief of that office’s Domestic Violence Bureau. She is a graduate of Fordham Law School and Barnard College.

The daughter of Greek immigrants, Singas spoke proudly of her heritage. “That I’m sitting here as acting D.A. is the realization, really, of the American dream,” Singas said. “I don’t think they would’ve ever imagined, my parents coming here, that this would be the end result … I’m very proud of the work that I did, and that they did, to put me in this spot.”

Political future
Gov. Andrew Cuomo could pick a replacement for Singas at any time while she is acting D.A., though it appears unlikely that he will. Singas, a Democrat, said that she would seek her party’s nomination for D.A. in the hope of running for the four-year post in November. She stressed that she is a “career prosecutor,” not a politician.

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