Primary profile: D.A. candidate Brian Grady

Philadelphia voters head to the polls in less than a week for the May 19th primary election. Five Democrats and one Republican are vying to be the city’s next District Attorney. Today through Friday we will profile the candidates to find out what separates them on the controversial issues.

Philadelphia voters head to the polls in less than a week for the May 19th primary election. Five Democrats and one Republican are vying to be the city’s next District Attorney. Today through Friday we will profile the candidates to find out what separates them on the controversial issues.

Listen:
[audio: 090513lfprofile.mp3]

Democratic candidate Brian Grady was born in Olney, now lives in Roxborough, and is in private practice specializing in criminal law and civil law. Grady says long as the death penalty is law, it should be pursued. He says he would call for it on a case-by-case-basis.

Grady: Police departments, families of police officers need to know that the District Attorney’s Office will stand behind them and will at least pursue the ultimate punishment for people who seek to execute and assassinate our police officers, our young children. We need to have that because that’s the way the city is right now. We’re at war with these criminals.

Grady says with the District Attorney’s Office facing budget cuts, there are ways to increase revenue from forfeiture.

Grady: The Dangerous Drug Offender’s Unit in the D.A.’s Office is seriously under-utilized. I would kick-start that Unit so that that unit would take over from the Police Department drug investigations where you have low-level dealers. You gotta take those investigations over, ramp them towards getting the guys who are bringing bricks of cocaine, bricks of heroin, into the city. Because those levels drug dealers are also dealing in guns and they’re dealing in major amounts of money.

Grady says as D.A. he’ll focus on going after robbers and murderers. He says it’s the Inspector General’s job to root out municipal corruption, and the D.A.’s job to facilitate investigation and prosecute cases.