But as one political insider stated, “[r]unning against Dillon is like running against God,” and Democratic hopeful Charles Ferzola, a former assistant district attorney in Mr. Dillon’s office, will pull off an unexpected feat if he wins.
Mr. Ferzola, now a criminal defense and matrimonial attorney, eventually went into the rackets bureau while working for Mr. Dillon from 1986 to 1990. He said it was “a great office to work in.” However, Mr. Ferzola said that Mr. Dillon has a duty, which he has not met, to delve deeper into why Nassau is now mired in red tape.
“Something has gone wrong with Nassau County and I cannot see that it is just mismanagement. The Nassau County [District Attorney] needs a political corruption bureau,” said Mr. Ferzola, who admitted that defeating his former boss will be a “very strong uphill battle.”
FOR THE RECORD
While the force of the Republican backlash on his chances is uncertain, Mr. Dillon, a former Democrat who turned Republican in 1988, can point to some marked accomplishments in seeking re-election.
He noted that much of the credit for the county’s low crime rate – 1,964 per 100,000 – is due to demographics. Long Island ranks No. 1 in the nation for the highest standard of living, according to a report issued in August by the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute.
Demographics aside, Nassau’s crime rate since Mr. Dillon was elected in 1974 has fallen from 3,502 per 100,000 to the current 1,964 figure, his felony conviction rate has climbed to 99 percent, and he has reduced the number of backlogged felony cases awaiting trial from 1,860 in 1974 to just over 300 currently.
In addition, he has spearheaded an aggressive forfeiture program that has used the state law to forfeit $11.5 million from criminals since 1990.
TENEMENT HOUSING
The son of an Irish bar owner in Yonkers, Mr. Dillon grew up in tenement housing in the South Bronx, where he traveled by subway each day to attend Catholic school at 76th Street and Lexington Avenue.
He went on to study economics at Fordham University, and for a brief time was a New York City policeman working a Bronx beat. After service in the U.S. Air Force, he took a different path.
“I decided to go to law school because I didn’t know how I was going to make a living,”
The young Fordham University School of Law graduate quickly joined Attorney General Robert Kennedy’s strike force of prosecutors fighting organized crime, and in 1974, Mr. Dillon ran on the Democratic line for District Attorney, a position that appears to have marked the final point in his political career.
ANTI-ABORTION ACTIVIST
Many have surmised that Mr. Dillon would have climbed higher in politics, perhaps to U.S. Senator, but for one thorny issue:
“In 1985, I started leading demonstrations at abortion clinics because I wanted to revitalize the movement,” Mr. Dillon recalled, adding, “My pro-life stand caused me problems in the Democratic party. If I was going to go forward [to higher office], that would’ve been the party.”
It was his unflinching position on the issue that prompted a switch to the Republican party 13 years ago, after his own party wanted him to sign a resolution that abortion is a God-given right, he said. When he refused to sign it, “they said ‘Go,’” Mr. Dillon recalled.
At the peak of Mr. Dillon’s dispute with his former party, he was spurred to put up a poster in his office at the Nassau County Courthouse that shows a color photograph of an aborted fetus. The poster remains affixed to an interior door in his office and is clearly visible to those who enter. It has garnered much criticism, including some from women who work with the District Attorney.
“I know people don’t like looking at it, because they don’t like looking at what they’re doing,” Mr. Dillon Said. “This is what they’re doing. They’re killing babies. I put it up so that they can look at it.”
At 67, Mr. Dillon, who has battled lymphoma twice, said that he is in good health to seek re-election. “I like the job, I’m good at it, and it’s not a heavy lifting job,” he said. He also pointed out that his Suffolk counterpart, District Attorney James Catterson, who himself is seeking re-election, is older than he.
CHALLENGES AHEAD
As for his current challenges, Mr. Dillon said he sees gang violence, primarily in the Village of Hempstead, as a major focus. Using forfeiture funds, he has set up exterior cameras in crime-ridden areas that are monitored by law enforcement officials, much like a practice under way in New Jersey.
The procedure, which has resulted in at least one arrest, has drawn criticism from some as a “Big Brother” tactic. “In these more economically deprived communities, there is distrust of government,” he said.
Mr. Dillon also has initiated a youth boxing program to get young people off the streets and into the gym. About 300 youths participate in the Hempstead program.
Neither petition for the candidates for District Attorney was challenged. The parties will square off Nov. 6.
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