Kathleen Rice is the District Attorney of Nassau County, a diverse suburban community of 1.3 million people located on Long Island, New York. Kathleen's innovative, tough and smart-on-crime initiatives have garnered the two-term District Attorney critical acclaim and national attention.
Kathleen shocked the political establishment in 2005 with her upset defeat of a 31-year Republican incumbent, making her the first woman elected DA in Long Island's history. Since taking office, Kathleen has defined what it means to be a modern prosecutor, proving that law enforcement officials can and must be both tough and smart on crime.
Kathleen's nationally-recognized effort to combat drunk-driving has led to statewide changes in DWI law and Long Island's first two DWI-related murder convictions. In 2008, CBS's 60 Minutes profiled Kathleen's work to reduce drunk-driving, sparking a renewed national debate on local law enforcement's role in DWI prevention, prosecution and education.
In 2007, Kathleen launched an innovative, community-oriented strategy to eliminate one of Long Island's most prolific drug markets. The strategy paired traditional law enforcement methods with progressive social service diversion, job training and education opportunities. Kathleen's efforts resulted in a 70% reduction in crime and a dramatic decrease in neighborhood violence. The strategy was profiled nationally on ABC's PrimeTime and has since been adopted by the U.S. Department of Justice, where it has been utilized by communities throughout the country.
In keeping with a central campaign promise when she first ran for office, Kathleen has taken down scores of public officials preying on the public's trust. Her investigations into public corruption have resulted in government reform and led a Long Island newspaper to dub Kathleen, New York's "Eliot Ness."
As the county's chief prosecutor, Kathleen overhauled the training program administered to first-year prosecutors in the office, resulting in higher trial conviction rates and reducing the office's need to plea bargain with violent criminals.
In addition to cracking down on violent crime, Kathleen has launched several education initiatives that target the causes of crime. Her presentations, aimed at educating communities and youth about the dangers of drunk-driving, heroin proliferation, identity theft and Internet crime, have been given in more than 200 settings since she took office.
Whether it's DWI, drug crime, government corruption, her focus on consumer protection or her high-profile fights against Medicaid fraud and Internet sexual predators, Kathleen has been unafraid to tackle our biggest issues. And she's won.
Kathleen's career in public service began as an assistant district attorney in New York City. Kathleen handled cases of domestic violence and gang activity, and would become first in her class to be appointed to the office's elite Homicide Bureau. As a homicide prosecutor in Brooklyn, Kathleen put some of New York's most dangerous criminals behind bars. In 1999, Kathleen was appointed Assistant United States Attorney, where she went on to an award-winning career as a federal prosecutor in the Department of Justice's Philadelphia office.
From her days as an advocate for victims of domestic violence to her time as a leading New York City homicide prosecutor and corruption-busting federal prosecutor, to her innovative and nationally-recognized tenure as her county's top law enforcement official, Kathleen's lifelong commitment to public service has never wavered. Kathleen has reformed government, gone after violent criminals and proposed innovative solutions that challenge the status quo.
Despite Democratic defeats across Long Island and New York, Kathleen overwhelmingly won re-election in 2009. Kathleen is in her second term as Nassau County District Attorney and is running for New York State Attorney General. She is a resident of Garden City, New York.
