Politics & Government

Brooklyn D.A. Hynes' Office Defends CBS Reality Show

Disputes critiques by opposing candidates who call the documentary a "reckless" bid for "self-promotion" during a three-way election.

 

Following the news that Brooklyn's chief prosecutor is participating in the CBS show "Brooklyn D.A." in the middle of his re-election campaign, his office defended the decision as "highlighting the great work" of the "dedicated staff."

The six-term D.A. faces two challengers in the Sept. 10 Democratic Primary: Abe George, a former Manhattan assistant district attorney and Ken Thompson, a former federal prosecutor. 

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George said the show gives Hynes an unfair advantage in the Sept. 10 primary, according to the Daily News. In a letter to CBS, George called the show "a six-hour infomercial for Charles Hynes" that shouldn't be aired until after the primary. CBS said the May 21 debut would stand, according to the New York Post. 

Thompson called the six-part show a "reckless" bid for "self-promotion" that puts sensitive information and ongoing investigations at risk in a press release.  

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In an interview with Patch, Jerry Schmetterer, the DA’s director of public information, refuted those criticisms, saying the show wouldn't have any information in it that isn't already available to reporters. 

When CBS approached the D.A.'s office about doing the show last November, Hynes' office had "lengthy conversations" with CBS to make sure that "no rights of the victims or defendants would be violated and that the integrity of the criminal justice would be preserved," Schmetterer said.

"This is progressing very carefully," he added.

As for his opponents criticisms that the show gives the D.A. an unfair edge in the election, Hynes' campaign spokesman, George Arzt, said, that "CBS determined the timing (of the air dates) and we had nothing to do with it." 

"This is a documentary, not a reality show," focusing not on Hynes but on "the dedicated people who work in the office," he added.

Documentaries on government offices are nothing new, he said, noting that the Manhattan D.A.'s office was the subject of the 2011 HBO documentary "Sex Crimes Unit."

"These things (documentaries) come up from time to time and you're just glad that someone would look at the hard work these people are doing," he said. 


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