FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office
Contact: Dawn Fraylick, Communications Director
Office: +1 (586) 469-5737
Cell: +1 (586) 842-4421
Email: Dawn.Fraylick@macombgov.org
October 25, 2024
Macomb County Prosecutor Highlights Recent Achievements, Makes Case For Modest Budget Increase
Mount Clemens, MI - During this week's Macomb County budget hearings, Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido presented his office’s budget request to the County Commission for the third consecutive year, emphasizing the progress made in modernizing operations, serving crime victims, expanding community safety initiatives, and filling positions during a national hiring crisis.
The Prosecutor’s Office, which serves over 870,000 residents, cited recent strides providing more victim support, increased child support collection, efficient warrant review, promoting mental health and drug treatment where appropriate, and expansion of safety initiatives as it requested a slight increase in funding for 2025. Lucido explained that addressing challenges inherited from prior administrations required significant changes, both in technology and office climate.
“I stepped into an office with significant challenges to tackle. The prior administration did not acknowledge changing trends in prosecution, for many years did not advocate for needed resources, and left a culture that suffered as a result of the way the office was run,” Lucido said, adding that the situation had been further impacted by criminal charges against the prior prosecutor and two assistant prosecutors.
Lucido explained that the challenges upon his arrival required swift action to stabilize the office and modernize resources that had lagged behind the evolving demands of prosecution. He noted that his initial budget proposal in 2022 acted as “a triage to stop the bleeding,” updating outdated technology, strengthening specialized units, and addressing the surge of digital evidence from police body cameras.
In this year’s request, the office seeks $90,200 in new funds—less than half a percent of the recommended $17.5 million prosecutor’s office general fund budget. The request includes $42,500 for professional services that the County Commission approved last year, $25,000 for community outreach and crime prevention initiatives for domestic violence, senior citizen scams prevention, and school safety awareness, and $17,200 for a UAW staff position salary and benefits upgrade. Additional requests include $5,000 for increased postage costs and $500 for specialized legal subscriptions.
Since taking office, Lucido’s office implemented new technology to manage an influx of digital evidence, strengthened diversion programs for mental health and substance abuse, streamlined victim services, resulting in more victims receiving support and an increase in the percentage of cases in which victims get help, reformed the hiring process, is processing warrant requests more efficiently than the office ever has, and modernized special prosecution units focused on areas like conviction integrity and hate crimes. He credited the County Commission’s support and his office team for the progress made, noting that each year’s budget proposal has been key to enhancing public safety and modernizing the office.
Once known nationally for controversy when the previous prosecutor and two assistant prosecutors faced criminal charges, the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office under Peter Lucido has transformed its reputation, now setting a record with 26 National Association of Counties "Good Government" Achievement Awards over the past three years—the highest in the office’s history and potentially a national record.
“Our substantial progress is a reflection of the strong support we’ve received from our County Commission and the dedication of our staff,” Lucido said. “I’m simply here to support a team that works tirelessly to serve the community.”
While many prosecutor offices nationwide face hiring struggles that have led to case backlogs and delays, Lucido’s office stands as a rare exception. The prosecutor’s office currently has zero vacant assistant prosecutor positions among its 150 staff members, which Lucido attributes to the County Commission’s support in fostering a professional environment where “talented people like working with other talented people.”
In public comments at the meeting Commissioner Harold Haugh praised the prosecutor’s success in child support collection, which rose from $154,000 between 2020 and 2022 to over $1.3 million in the past two years. “Phenomenal job there… It's a great credit to the organization…” Haugh said, commending the focus on community impact.
Two more commissioners publicly praised the presentation. Commissioner Phil Kraft lauded the office’s detailed budget worksheet proposal, calling it the most thorough submission in this year’s review. "[Y]ou guys make a heck of a presentation," said Macomb County Commissioner Joseph Romano.
The Macomb County Executive recommended 2025 budget increases for many departments, including a $527,040 increase for the Prosecutor’s Office, for county employee salary raises, internal services controlled by the Executive, extradition expenses to return for prosecution defendants arrested outside of Michigan, and cell phone expenses for over 70 assistant prosecutors.
The prosecutor’s office 2025 budget presentation is available on the County Commission’s YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/63lPbEQlEKM?si=K7739j41cb8H2bvu&t=2352
Under Lucido's leadership, the Prosecutor’s Office has achieved significant accomplishments with the support of the Macomb County Commissioner, including:
- Auto Theft Unit Achieves Milestone - The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office Auto Theft Unit has achieved a milestone by reducing all pending auto-related warrant requests to zero, despite handling an increased number of complex Continuing Criminal Enterprise (CCE) cases. The Unit's progress is especially significant given the rise in CCE cases, which require more resources and involve numerous underlying crimes.
- Warrant Unit Process Faster Than Ever Before -The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office Warrant Unit has significantly improved the efficiency of processing adult warrant requests, reducing the number of pending requests to record lows, despite an increase in police submissions. The Warrant Unit focuses on expediting cases ranging from misdemeanors to serious felonies like armed robbery and assault with intent to murder.
- Record Efficiency in Drug Unit - The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Drug Unit has reduced pending drug warrant requests to a record low of just one. The swift processing of drug cases balances public safety with rehabilitation efforts like drug courts for low-level offenders and supports the fight against the opioid crisis enhancing community safety.
- Child Protection Unit Agressively Reduced Warrants -The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Child Protection Unit has reduced pending warrant requests to 15, the lowest all year, despite a rise in sexual assault cases. This unit’s efficiency and dedication, ensures quicker case resolutions for victims while holding offenders accountable.
- Child Support Collections Increased: intensified efforts to collect child support from parents who owe $5,000 or more, successfully collecting $1.4 million for Macomb County children since last year under this new initiative, with most collections done while avoiding criminal prosecution.
- Macomb County Prosecutor Shatters Glass Ceiling: Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido hired a record number of women as assistant prosecuting attorneys, with women filling 70% of new positions in the past three years. A majority of all assistant prosecuting attorneys handling cases in the county are now women. Lucido also promoted a record number of women to lead special units within the prosecutor’s office. After implementing an objective hiring process, and a commitment to build a diverse and inclusive team to prosecute crimes and reflect the community we serve, Lucido successfully filled all assistant prosecutor positions despite a national shortage, a rarity for an office this size.
- Record Set for Fast Domestic Violence Warrant Processing: the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office is processing domestic violence warrant requests more efficiently than ever, a significant improvement compared to the years before Lucido took office when warrant requests seeking domestic violence charges for out-of-custody defendants could accumulate.
- Victim services improved 67%: More Macomb County crime victims get more help. The Macomb County Prosecutor's Office increased by ⅔ the percentage of crime victims receiving crucial support services compared to 2020, the year before Lucido took office. More victims now receive victim rights services, including but not limited to assigned victim advocates, help getting restitution, hearing notices or other kinds of support.
- Criminal charge requests for juveniles reviewed faster than ever: The Juvenile Unit is now authorizing or denying petitions at an unprecedented speed, with the number of pending requests reduced to the lowest levels in recent memory, supporting the broader goal of rehabilitating young offenders and protecting vulnerable children.
- Mental Health Assessments for Gun Crime Defendants: Started a first-in-Michigan policy requiring mental health assessments as part of bond conditions in all gun crime cases, using existing resources to provide an opportunity for mental health services before a suspect gets a chance to commit another crime with a gun.
- Hate Crimes Unit Launched: created a Hate Crimes Unit, securing a vital U.S. Department of Justice grant paying 100% of all its costs, a distinction granted to only 16 organizations nationwide last year. Appointed Michigan's first and only solely-dedicated hate crimes prosecutor at a county level, ensuring robust enforcement and community education.
- Conviction Integrity Unit Exoneration: started this unit to investigate claims of innocence as a result of clear and convincing new evidence that the convicted defendant was not the person who committed the offense, and to review claims of factual innocence based on new evidence such as DNA. This unit secured an exoneration.
- Major Crimes Unit Launched: Prosecutor Lucido organized the top-ranked assistant prosecutors to focus on major crimes, and train more assistant prosecutors to handle these types of cases.
- Warrant Appeals Unit Launched: Established the state’s first formal prosecutor’s office unit allowing domestic violence victims (and all other crime victims) and law enforcement officials to have a second review of warrant requests where charges were denied.
- Digital Evidence Management Platform Implemented: With over 800,000 pieces of digital evidence, police agencies can now upload digital evidence, which the Prosecutor’s Office reviews, and defense lawyers can download directly, resulting in “discovery” information faster than it’s ever been provided.
- Increased Internships: Hosted over 200 law school and college interns. Court rules permit law student interns to handle court hearings under supervision, which helps the office serve victims and expedite cases.
- Paperless Crime Victim Rights: Implemented the county’s first paperless system for crime victims to request rights and notifications via text message or online.
- Police Training Provided: Regular training sessions by assistant prosecutors are conducted for every police agency in Macomb County, including updates on recent court cases.
- Enhanced Auto Theft Unit: Addressed a surge in attacks on car dealerships and manufacturing plants, prosecuting more continuing criminal enterprise cases in the past two years than in the previous decade, resulting in over $800,000 in restitution.
- Record number of national good government awards received: The National Association of Counties (NaCO) presented 26 awards to the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office during Lucido’s tenure. The 12 awards received in 2024 is the highest (record) number of awards the organization has ever presented in one year.
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