Cyrus Vance Has $808 Million to Give Away
Source: By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr., New York Times
The Manhattan district attorney is giving grants, from criminal penalties against three international banks, for public and private criminal justice programs in New York and around the nation.
NOV. 6, 2015
These days, the programs being announced by the Manhattan district attorney sound more like the projects of a major philanthropic foundation than those of a local prosecutor’s office.
Consider the last two months. District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. announced that he was giving grants to agencies across the country to test piles of rape kits that had been collecting dust in police storage. He pledged millions to start an international center to monitor cyberattacks and has provided seed money for a new institute at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice devoted to educating the nation’s 2,700 prosecutors.
At a time when most city and state agencies are struggling with budget constraints, Mr. Vance has secured a windfall of $808 million from criminal penalties against three international banks accused of violating United States sanctions — HSBC, Standard Chartered and BNP Paribas.
It is a princely sum, nearly 10 times the office’s annual budget. Because by law it must be spent on criminal justice projects, it has transformed Mr. Vance into a kind of Santa Claus for the law-enforcement world, with a sack filled with new programs and equipment. His power to distribute such large sums with the stroke of a pen has, however, led some good-government advocates to say it prompts questions about transparency and oversight.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/08/nyregion/cyrus-vance-has-dollar-808-million-to-give-away.html
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Like his father. 
not the son. 
But then forgot that the father ain't around anymore. 
