Raymond A. Tierney

RAYMOND A. TIERNEY

No party affiliation

BACKGROUND:

• Tierney, 55, of Holtsville, is a former prosecutor who works as chief counsel for compliance and enforcement at Suffolk County Off-Track Betting Corp. Tierney, who is not registered to any political party, is running on the Republican and Conservative party lines.
• He spent nearly 14 years as an assistant Suffolk County district attorney and 11 years as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, where he served as a trial supervisor in federal district court. Tierney served most recently as executive assistant district attorney for violent criminal enterprises and crimes strategies at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn. He worked previously in private legal practice.
• Tierney received an undergraduate degree from Brown University and a law degree from St. John’s University in Queens.

ISSUES:

• Tierney touts his experience as a federal and county prosecutor in cases including the Westhampton Beach beating of Shane Daniels, the MS-13 gang murder of Vanessa Argueta and her 2-year-old son Diego in Central Islip, and corruption cases against former Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano and former Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto.
• He says he would run a politically independent district attorney’s office, increase training for prosecutors, improve relationships with federal authorities, place the most experienced prosecutors in courtrooms and consolidate some bureaus.
• Tierney says he would more aggressively prosecute gang violence, shootings, white collar, domestic violence and child abuse crimes. He says he is concerned about a rise in shootings, along with the ramifications of the state bail reform law. He wants to create a dedicated gang unit, indict defendants accused of having illegal firearms, and use technology such as ShotSpotter to identify shooting locations and increase gang surveillance.

Watch DA Tim Sini and challenger Ray Tierney answer LIers' questions in a virtual town hall.