Freda Black '08
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COMMUNITY. FAIRNESS. INTEGRITY.

These are the values we need in our District Attorney's office, and they will be the tenets of my tenure if I am nominated and elected to that office.

We need a prosecutor who is more interested in helping our next generation than winning the next election. As the mother of two young girls, my biggest concern is their safety and security. I want my daughters and all the children of Durham County to grow up safe from the threat of gangs, drugs and violent crime.

We need a prosecutor who will work to bring the community together. I have more than 22 years' experience working in a courtroom. Most of those years were spent fighting for the victims of crime. However, our District Attorney can't focus solely on the work in the Courthouse. Our District Attorney must work to pull the community together to lead a new fight against crime in our city and county. I'm ready to lead that fight.

I know the District Attorney will need the help of the Sheriff and Chief of Police. The District Attorney will need the help of the Mayor, City Council and County Commissioners. We will need to bring neighborhood leaders, community activists, ministers and business people to the table to craft new strategies to reduce crime on our streets.

I know our District Attorney must be fair to all parties. The District Attorney must be tough, must be fair, must be concerned and must be accessible. If I am elected as District Attorney, I will have an open-door policy for the citizens of Durham County because I understand the office, and the Courthouse belongs to the people of this county.

Finally, I know we need to restore the public's confidence in our judicial system in Durham County. While the District Attorney is elected by the people of Durham County, the eyes of the state and nation are on us. As your next District Attorney I will work diligently to emphasize honor, character and integrity in office. I will work to ensure transparency, openness, fairness and concern. I pledge to be an even-handed prosecutor who makes decisions based on the merits and evidence of a case – not on the politics.

Durham County needs an honest, fair and effective prosecutor. I am offering myself as a candidate in 2008 to rebuild and restore the public's confidence and trust in this office. I hope that you will join my campaign and help me focus on the Community, Fairness and Integrity that the office of District Attorney should represent.

COMMUNITY

Durham County needs a District Attorney who understands that the office extends beyond the confines of the Courthouse. “We need a District Attorney who will work to bring the community together. We need new strategies to fight crime, and those strategies must be developed with the cooperation of neighborhood leaders, elected officials and law enforcement agencies. I am ready to work to pull together these partners to make sure our communities are safe from gangs, illegal drugs and violent crime.”

FAIRNESS

Durham County needs a District Attorney who will ensure all parties have equal access to justice and that cases are tried based on the merits and evidence of the case. We need a District Attorney who can be tough, fair and concerned. Every citizen, every attorney, every victim and every defendant will be treated with respect and concern. “The Office of District Attorney belongs to the people of Durham County. I will make the office open and accessible to the citizens, the victims of crime, those who have been charged and the attorneys who represent them. I believe the Courthouse belongs to the people and will make sure they have access to it.”

INTEGRITY

Durham County needs a District Attorney who will restore public confidence and trust in this office. If I am elected District Attorney, I will work diligently to ensure the decisions made in this office are based on the rule of law, the evidence and merits of each individual case. The citizens of Durham County will be my top priority.

A PLAN FOR A SAFER DURHAM

Freda Black is the only candidate for District Attorney in Durham to offer voters a plan to curb gang violence, stem illegal drugs and reduce violent crime in our communities.

“For over 14 years, I took on some of Durham's toughest criminal cases as an Assistant District Attorney. I know how to fight and win in a courtroom. But our next District Attorney must go beyond the Courthouse to be effective in fighting crime. We must work together as a community to lead a new fight on crime in our city, in our county, in our communities.

I believe we must pull together all sectors of the community to work collectively in an effort to curb crime. We cannot work in silos and think we can be effective in serving the entire community. I am ready to work to bring together elected officials, community activists, ministers, business people and law enforcement agencies to help develop new strategies to combat gang violence, illegal drugs and violent crime.”

•  TAKING BACK OUR STREETS – We need to intensify law enforcement efforts, attacking gangs and illegal drug activity. Headline after headline tell the story of violent crime on the streets and in our neighborhoods. We must work together with the Sheriff and Chief of Police to find new enforcement strategies that will focus on high crime areas and ensure we have the resources to focus on those neighborhoods.

•  DEALING WITH GANGS – We must look at increasing our gang task force efforts in the Durham Police Department and Sheriff's Department. They need additional funding and resources to increase manpower and equipment to track gang activity, gang membership and gang violence. We should ask for additional federal and state grants to help strengthen the hands of law enforcement. As District Attorney, I will ask the NC Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Justice for grant funding to allocate resources to create a special team of prosecutors. These prosecutors will work with law enforcement agencies to take violent criminals off our streets.

•  COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS – Now more than ever before, I realize that the District Attorney must reach out to the community for help. You cannot isolate yourself in a corner office at the Courthouse and think you are going to be effective in fighting crime. We need a District Attorney who will be willing to take a leadership role to bring the community together. I will work diligently with the Mayor, the City Council and the County Commissioners. I will work with the Sheriff and Chief of Police to find new enforcement programs to curb violent crime. I will work with Social Services, community leaders, ministers and churches, teachers and schools to find local solutions that will keep our children from a life of crime.