The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation Department supervises nearly 30,000 acres of parks and recreational facilities – almost fourteen percent of the land in New York City. The Department manages more than 5,000 properties, mostly parks, but also monuments, beaches, and public golf courses. New York City’s parks routinely offer free concerts, world-class sports events, and cultural festivals for the city’s millions of residents and visitors. Unfortunately, however, not everything that happens in the city’s parks is relaxing or entertaining.

Murders, rapes, and other major crimes are on the rise in New York City’s parks. Violent crimes rose dramatically in city parks in the nine months through March 2016, compared with the same period the previous year, according to a report released in August by NYC Park Advocates. For the nine months ending in March, there were 417 major crimes in the city’s one thousand biggest parks, a 23 percent increase over the 340 crimes reported in the same period last year. The report was issued only a week after a 30-year-old jogger, Karina Vetrano, was found dead in a marsh in Spring Creek Park in Howard Beach, Queens.

With high-profile crimes in the city’ parks – and articles about rising crime in the parks in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal – it’s certain that law enforcement will increase its monitoring of the city’s parks and will be making more arrests. Anyone arrested and charged with a crime in New York City or on Long Island – whether the person claims to be innocent or guilty – should contact an experienced Long Island criminal defense attorney to obtain legal assistance without delay.

WHICH NEW YORK CITY PARKS ARE THE MOST DANGEROUS?

“More than a person a day is the victim of a violent crime in a city park,” Geoffrey Croft, the founder of NYC Park Advocates, told the Wall Street Journal. NYC Park Advocates, the community group Mr. Croft founded in 2003, conducted the crime survey using statistics provided by the New York Police Department. “It’s a bad omen,” Mr. Croft said. “It shows a lack of priority in dealing with this.” The five parks with the most major felonies from April 1, 2015 through March 31, 2016 were:

New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said, “The parks in the city are heavily utilized so some of the victimization you’re seeing is reflective of many of the larger number of people in the parks,” he said. “But the overall numbers are still very, very small.” New York City Councilman Rory Lancman, who grew up in Queens and represents part of the borough, was not surprised by the crime numbers. He told NBC 4 New York that, “For many years, Flushing-Meadows Corona Park has kind of been the forgotten stepchild of the New York City parks system. Our crime rates have always been relatively high compared to other large parks.”

ARE THE PARKS REALLY THE “SAFEST” PLACES?

The statistics do not include Central Park, which has its own police precinct. Although violent crime in New York City parks has been on the rise for over a year, “Crime in city parks is less than one percent of all reported crime in New York City during that same period,” NYPD spokesman Lt. John Grimpel told the Wall Street Journal. “City parks represent fourteen percent of New York City’s land mass, which makes them one of the safest places in the city and the country.”

Mr. Croft, however, says it is the increasing frequency of violent crimes in the parks of New York City that worries him. “If you don’t have an adequate police force to patrol parks, it’s a recipe for disaster,” he told NBC 4 New York. “You’re inviting the public into parks, but you’re not providing adequate security – and that’s what we’ve seen from this enormous spike in violent crime.”

From July 2015 through March 2016, there were six murders in New York City parks, and fourteen rapes were reported. According to police department data, there were also 254 people robbed and 143 felony assaults in the city’s parks in those months. In the same period the previous year, there were ten murders, two rapes, 221 robberies, and 107 felony assaults in the city’s parks, according to Mr. Croft’s findings.

In Crotona Park, for example, which covers about 120 acres in the Claremont neighborhood in the Bronx, there were 33 violent crimes reported in the twelve months through March 31 of this year, according to the NYC Park Advocates report. “There’s certain areas of the park [with] poor lighting and that’s how you become a victim,” Will Green, a 28-year-old Bronx resident, told the Wall Street Journal. “You get stabbed, shot, or most likely jumped from behind.”

SHOULD YOU BE WORRIED ABOUT CRIME IN THE PARKS?

Should you be worried? Perhaps not. The statistics still point to fewer than one crime per city park per day, and the city’s parks are now frankly far safer than they were in the 1970s and 1980s, thanks to the NYPD and an assortment of community groups. Should you be vigilant? Of course. The average person’s sense of safety is not based on statistics anyway. It’s high-profile crimes like the murder of Karina Vetrano that set the tone and attitudes regarding our use of New York City’s parks.

Anyone accused of committing a crime – in a park or anywhere else in New York City or on Long Island – should obtain legal help as quickly as possible by speaking with an experienced Long Island criminal defense attorney. When you and your family enjoy the city’s parks, stay vigilant. Especially after dark, stay in lighted areas, bring a flashlight, and wear light-colored clothing that does not bring attention to yourself. Stay where others can see you, and report any crimes if you become a witness or a victim. New York City’s parks are the world’s greatest, and with everyone in New York working together, we can keep them that way.

The right to remain silent and the right to avoid self-incrimination are basic and foundational to our criminal justice system. Without those rights, “justice” in any meaningful sense is probably impossible. The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution tells us that no person “shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.” That’s why a criminal suspect who is taken into police custody has a “right to remain silent.”

The right to remain silent, although vital, is not absolute. It’s limited. It protects criminal suspects and witnesses from having to answer leading or incriminating questions about themselves, but it does not let you refuse to answer other questions that may be posed by the courts – especially questions about someone else and crimes that person might have committed.

When someone’s testimony about another person – and crimes that person may have committed – might also incriminate the witness, a prosecutor can choose to provide immunity from prosecution in exchange for the testimony. Immunity from prosecution generally means that the government agrees not to prosecute the witness for the crime that he or she might have committed in exchange for the desired testimony or other evidence.

FOR WHICH CRIMES CAN IMMUNITY BE GRANTED?

Prosecutors may elect to offer immunity to a witness when that witness can help them win a conviction. When prosecutors provide a grant of immunity to someone, a number of legal rules automatically and immediately come into play. Immunity from prosecution is a vital tool for prosecutors in New York and elsewhere, who are allowed to offer immunity for even serious crimes like kidnapping and murder. More typically, however, prosecutors will provide immunity to a suspect who has allegedly committed minor crimes in order to obtain testimony against someone who has committed more significant crimes.

Historians tell us that the first immunity statute was adopted by the British Parliament in 1710, and it was quickly copied by the American colonies. The first federal immunity statute in the United States was enacted by Congress in 1857, and it immunized anyone who testified before a congressional committee from prosecution for any matter “touching which” he or she had testified. Several legal questions arose, however, regarding the 1857 law, so in 1893, Congress passed a second immunity statute, this time clarifying the legal distinction between “transactional” immunity and “use” immunity.

In the state of New York, a prosecutor may grant immunity to a witness in either of those two forms. Transactional immunity, also referred to as “blanket” or “total” immunity, entirely shields the witness from any future prosecution for any crimes related to his or her immunized testimony. “Use” and “derivative use” immunity, however, only prevents a prosecutor from using the actual testimony itself or any evidence derived from the testimony as evidence against the witness in a future prosecution.

WHAT DOES THE SUPREME COURT SAY ABOUT IMMUNITY?

In Kastigar v. United States (1972), the U.S. Supreme Court decided which type of immunity, “transactional” or “use” immunity, is constitutionally required to compel testimony from a witness. The Court ruled that the grant of use and derivative use immunity is sufficient to compel testimony. Many states, including New York, choose to go a step beyond what the Constitution requires. In New York, full transactional immunity may be provided to witnesses who give immunized testimony. Prosecutors at the state level may offer a witness either transactional or use and derivative use immunity, but at the federal level, transactional immunity is quite rare.

Witnesses who are compelled by a subpoena to appear and testify before a grand jury are entitled to receive immunity in exchange for their testimony. The grant of immunity for grand jury testimony, however, prevents the witness from invoking his or her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination as a legal basis for refusing to testify. Grand jury witnesses may be prosecuted for perjury if they make any false statements in the course of their grand jury testimony.

Any witness who refuses to cooperate with a prosecutor after being provided immunity can be held in contempt of court and penalized with fines and/or time in jail. And even with a grant of immunity, a witness in some cases may not simply walk away “scot-free.” If a prosecutor subsequently seeks a criminal indictment against a previously-immunized witness, the prosecutor will have to demonstrate that the state’s case is based exclusively on evidence developed independently of the immunized testimony.

Someone who faces a prosecution and intends to claim immunity from that prosecution must be able to show that a prosecutor granted immunity and that the immunized testimony directly relates to the new charge. In response, the prosecution must demonstrate that all of the evidence it intends to use against the witness was developed from independent sources. It is not sufficient for the prosecution to simply deny that it is using the immunized testimony. It must prove that the evidence does not arise from the immunized testimony. If none of the evidence is independent of and distinct from immunized testimony, the court will dismiss the case.

CAN IMMUNITY BE WAIVED?

If you have been asked to give immunized testimony in a criminal case in New York, be sure that you protect yourself and consult first with an experienced Long Island criminal defense lawyer. Only a seasoned defense attorney can explain the details regarding immunity in your own situation, ensure that you do not waive immunity if you have it, and protect your other legal and constitutional rights. If you are charged with any felony or misdemeanor in the state of New York, contact a Long Island criminal defense lawyer at once for the advice and legal representation you may need.

Because immunity is a privilege, an immunized witness retains the right to waive that privilege. A witness who has been granted immunity may sign a written statement telling the court that he or she waives any rights linked to immunity. A waiver of immunity also happens automatically when a witness has immunity but does not assert it – for example, by freely answering questions in a courtroom without mentioning previous immunized testimony. However, once immunity has been waived, the government is then able to use the previously immunized testimony against the witness.

White collar criminal investigations and prosecutions are increasing in the state of New York and across the United States. Especially if you work for a corporation or a financial institution, it is imperative to avoid the behaviors that can, even inadvertently, trigger a federal white collar criminal investigation. While every white collar criminal case is unique, the signs that you are being investigated are more or less similar in almost every white collar crime investigation. If you are suspected of a white collar crime in New York, immediately contact an experienced Long Island criminal defense attorney. In no particular order, here are five more ways to protect yourself if you become a target of a white collar criminal investigation:

1. UNDERSTAND WHAT A “CORPORATE” MIRANDA WARNING MEANS

When you receive a corporate Miranda warning from your own corporation’s attorney, it’s time to retain your own personal lawyer. Most corporate employees assume that their communications with corporate counsel about a legal problem are privileged and that they are free to talk with corporate attorneys about problems at the company. They are not. A corporate attorney represents only the company itself, not the employees as individuals, and without exception, that attorney has no confidentiality obligation to employees.

In the groundbreaking case Upjohn Co. v. United States (1981), the United States Supreme Court held that in communications with corporate counsel, the confidentiality privilege is enjoyed only by the company and not by the employee. While the Supreme Court justices writing the Upjohn decision did not explicitly mention giving a warning to employees, the case has given rise to a practice called the “Upjohn warning,” in which a company’s lawyer explains that he or she represents only the company and not the individual employee with whom the lawyer is dealing. This warning is intended to ensure that the employee understands that the company can waive the attorney-client privilege at any time and may disclose the contents of the conversation between the lawyer and the employee even if the employee objects.

What does that mean for you if you are a corporate employee? If a federal prosecutor comes knocking, the company alone will determine whether your conversations with corporate counsel are considered privileged. And while you may presume that your company wants to remain loyal to you, the fact is that corporations in that situation face substantial pressure to waive attorney-client privilege. For many companies, the decision is easy. They will tell the government whatever it wants to know and hope that the company will be spared from prosecution in return for its cooperation.

As a result, in recent years there has been an increasing focus on so-called Upjohn warnings (otherwise known as “corporate” Miranda warnings). However, many corporate executives dismiss this warning as standard legal talk and assume that their company will treat their conversations with corporate counsel as confidential and privileged. Do not make that assumption or disregard a corporate Miranda warning. The hard reality is that when you receive a corporate Miranda warning, you need to retain your own attorney who will watch out strictly for your personal interests. A corporate attorney will never advise you to retain your own lawyer because his or her job is to elicit information on behalf of the corporation and not to provide legal advice or confidentiality to its individual employees. The bottom is line is that if you are given a corporate Miranda warning, you very much need to retain your own attorney as quickly as possible.

2. USE CAUTION WHEN YOU WRITE AND SEND EMAILS

Another rule about everyday activities that will help you steer clear of white collar prosecutions is to be careful about what you say in your emails. Everything you say in an email can and will be used against you by the government in a white collar criminal prosecution. Every email you send is recorded somewhere and will remain available to the government for years to come. Never assume that the person receiving your email will be the only person reading it.

Absolutely avoid aggressive or “loose” language in any emails you send. Emails with phrases such as “killing” the competition, checking with “inside” sources, and, worse of all, “we shouldn’t be talking about this,” can, even years later, be twisted to look surreptitious and criminal regardless of your original intention or meaning. In almost every white collar criminal investigation, the government targets a few colorful emails that make the person look guilty. The bottom line is that sensitive topics must be dealt with only in face-to-face or telephone conversations. Always assume that every email you compose and send will be read later – by a party you that did not intend it for – and interpreted in the worst possible light.

3. AVOID ANYTHING THAT COULD LOOK LIKE ACCOUNTING FRAUD

Another risk factor is the degree to which your company’s profitability depends on accounting. Accounting can work for you, and it can also work against you. Anything that seems like a clever accounting maneuver will later, in the harsh light of a business failure, look like accounting fraud. If there is a great deal of attention given to how your corporation accounts for revenue, there is a tendency for prosecutors to charge that management either pressured or deceived the accountants into using accounting practices designed to mislead shareholders and the public as to how well the company was doing. Accounting fraud is a basic tool used by many white collar criminals, and more often than not, it is the non-accountants who find themselves accused of accounting fraud. Just because you are not an accountant or responsible for accounting doesn’t mean that you won’t be accused of accounting fraud. If accounting decisions are crucial to your business, make sure that you have clear guidance about what information needs to be disclosed to the accountants and auditors.

4. GO WITH YOUR INSTINCTS

If something doesn’t feel right in any business situation, it probably isn’t. Many white collar criminal defendants can point to an exact moment when they realized that something was not right in their business dealings. A person’s reticence to speak up or take action at that moment can swiftly lead to serious legal trouble. Federal prosecutors don’t limit their investigations to the architect of a particular crime; rather, they look to investigate every person who was directly or even indirectly complicit in the criminal activity.

Federal and state laws governing white collar crimes typically do not recognize any concept of “relative” responsibility, so in most white collar cases, the least culpable member of a criminal conspiracy will be punished as harshly upon conviction as the central figure or “mastermind.” Corporate executives are presumed to know everything that happens at their companies, and it is genuinely difficult for an executive to argue that he or she didn’t have enough information to know that something fraudulent was happening. The bottom line here is that if something feels suspect or seems too good to be true, it most likely is. Always go with your instincts and proactively remove yourself from a questionable situation as quickly as possible.

5. DO NOT ATTEMPT A COVER-UP

Attempted cover-ups are usually worse – for those conducting the cover-ups – than the original crimes they are attempting to conceal. For example, in the cases of Barry Bonds and Martha Stewart, both celebrities were convicted not for the crimes that initially led investigators to them but for their efforts to cover up those crimes. Because it is often easier to prove than the original crime, a botched cover-up can quickly become the focus of a prosecutor’s investigative efforts. An attempted cover-up may become “smoking gun” evidence that an “original” crime was committed by those conducting the cover-up. A prosecutor can reasonably argue that a defendant knew what he or she did was illegal because the defendant tried to cover it up by lying, deleting emails, contacting others to coordinate their stories, and similar actions. Ordinary people – the kind who sit on juries – fully understand that these are the actions of someone with a guilty conscience. If your defense to a white collar criminal charge is “I didn’t think that I was doing anything illegal,” any effort to cover up the alleged crime will cast substantial doubt on the veracity of your defense.

If you become the target of a white collar criminal investigation, do not try to wrangle or manipulate your way out of it. It’s best to hire your own lawyer and say nothing, even if it means taking a temporary public relations hit. The problem with trying to clear your name at the front end of the investigation is that you don’t know what evidence the prosecutors possess, and you can make statements that you think are harmless but that later come back to haunt you during the investigation or prosecution.

The best way to protect yourself during a white collar criminal investigation is to consult with and adhere to the advice of a reliable and experienced criminal defense attorney. If you need to learn more about white collar crimes and white collar criminal investigations in the state of New York, let us answer your questions and address your concerns. If you need legal advice or representation regarding a criminal matter in the state of New York, contact an experienced Long Island criminal defense attorney as quickly as possible.