District Attorney Paul Howard Announces Grand Opening of Second Community Prosecution Office on 29 October @ 11 a.m

New Location to Serve Atlanta's Zone 5 Neighborhood

Atlanta—Fulton County District Attorney Paul L. Howard Jr. (Atlanta Judicial Circuit) and Commissioner Nancy Boxill are pleased to announce the grand opening of the County's second Community Prosecution Office on Wednesday, 29 October, at 11 a.m. Serving the Zone 5 community, the office is located at 340 Boulevard, NE, Suite 500, in the Atlanta Medical Center complex. "In 2000, when we opened our first office in southwest Atlanta, I announced my intention to gradually introduce this concept to the entire County," says Mr. Howard. "With this new location, we are one step closer to that goal." Commissioner Boxill, whose district includes the Zone 5 community, was instrumental in establishing the new location. "I am proud to support any effort that encourages effective community involvement in the criminal justice process and public safety issues," says Commissioner Boxill. "Community Prosecution has made a difference in Zone 4, and I believe it can make a positive difference throughout Fulton County." The opening program will include remarks from Mr. Howard and Commissioner Boxill as well as WSB-TV's Jocelyn Dorsey and Atlanta Police Major Lane A. Hagin of Zone 5.

Mr. Howard has named Senior Assistant District Attorney Michele T. McCutcheon as the County's newest Community Prosecutor. A graduate of Berry College and Georgia State University College of Law, Ms. McCutcheon possesses nearly a decade of prosecutorial experience, having worked in the offices of both the Dekalb County and City of Atlanta Solicitors General before joining this Office in 1998. Since coming to the District Attorney's Office, she has worked in both the Trial Division and the Drug Court Program and was most recently assigned to the Major Felony Unit handling homicides and other high-profile cases.

The Atlanta Police Department's Zone 5 is headquartered at 398 Centennial Olympic Park Drive and commanded by Major D.K. Tolleson. The Zone encompasses eight square miles and includes precincts on Techwood Drive, at the CNN Center, in Midtown, along Auburn Avenue, and at Underground Atlanta.

The existing Community Prosecution Office, opened in July 2000, is located at 3050 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, SW, Suite 6, in the Westridge Shopping Center and is focused on Zone 4. To date, the office has targeted repeat offenders, open-air drug sales, and the closing and seizure of known "crack houses" in the community. The first property seized under this initiative was completely renovated and turned over to an Atlanta Police officer in May. The officer will live in the home rent-free for one year after which time it will be re-sold to a moderate-income family.

Earlier this year, the Community Prosecution Program was both honored by the Atlanta City Council for its work and selected by the United States Department of Justice to serve as one of a select number of "Community Prosecution Leadership Sites" across the country. This honor not only recognizes the success of the program in the City of Atlanta and Fulton County but also enables the Office to apply for up to $200,000 in grant funding through the Office of Justice Programs' Bureau of Justice Assistance.

CONTACT: Erik Friedly, 404-224-0560 (office); 404-533-1381 (pager)