Bridget G. Brennan, appointed as New York City’s Special Narcotics in 1998, is the first woman to hold that position. She oversees a staff of 200 lawyers, investigators, and professional personnel. The agency has its own budget for operating expenses and receives funding from the city, state, and federal government.  It prosecutes serious narcotics offenses and related crime throughout the city’s five boroughs.

Under Ms. Brennan’s direction, the office has developed innovative strategies to stem the flow of drugs into the city, target violent drug distribution rings, and prosecute drug sellers linked to overdose deaths.  The office has also expanded alternatives to incarceration initiatives and community and educational outreach efforts, and enhanced its post-conviction review process.

Ms. Brennan has developed strategies to meet challenges posed by each phase of the deadly opioid epidemic. She established specialized units, including the Heroin Interdiction Team, the Digital Forensics and Litigation Unit, the Criminal and Investigative Analysts Unit, the Prescription Drug Investigation Unit, the Narcotics Gangs Unit, the Money Laundering and Financial Investigation Unit, the Community Outreach Unit, the Discovery Compliance and Litigation Unit, and the Post Judgment Litigation Committee.

The office also strives to reduce demand for narcotics by raising public awareness and facilitating alternatives to incarceration and drug treatment. It collaborates with educators and drug treatment providers and is deeply committed to ensuring that our criminal justice system is fair for all.

Ms. Brennan has been an Assistant District Attorney since 1983, when she joined the New York County District Attorney’s Office. During her tenure there, she was designated both a homicide and sex crimes prosecutor.  She became a deputy chief in a financial crimes bureau before joining the Special Narcotics Prosecutor’s Office in 1992.  She first served as chief of the highly regarded Special Investigations Bureau, overseeing some of the nation’s most significant narcotics investigations, then as Chief Assistant from 1995 to 1997.

Before her legal career, Ms. Brennan was a print, radio, and television reporter in her native Wisconsin, where she graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School with a Juris Doctor degree. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin.

Ms. Brennan has been a speaker at international conferences and throughout the United States.  She has appeared as an expert on narcotics crime in national and local media. She was recognized as Outstanding Prosecutor by the Criminal Justice Section of the New York State Bar Association, and for her leadership by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, New York County Lawyers Association, and numerous community organizations, enforcement agencies, and substance use treatment providers.