Statement of Robert N.

Tracci
Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney
2019 Campaign Re-Election Announcement

June 25, 2019

Thank you.
Gil, thank you for the kind introduction
I am grateful you are here, and grateful on behalf of our broader
community. You transformed indescribable grief into a call for action; action
into awareness; awareness into prevention; and prevention into public safety.
You show compassion toward victims. Your efforts have made our
Commonwealth safer, and we are inspired by your courage and determination. I
am honored by your support and look forward to working with Help Save the
Next Girl and its 93 chapters on common challenges that lie ahead.
Thank you Gil Harrington.
And I wish to thank Sheriff Harding. For a lifetime of service to
Charlottesville and our community. It is a personal and professional privilege to
work with Chip on a range of issues including DNA enhancement and
improvements to our criminal justice system. He was an architect of our local
drug court. He is a defender of justice, who is principled and fearless. Our
community is grateful for your decades of service, and I am proud of your
support.
Thank you Chip.
Pleased to see many supporters. Members of community, City and
County, who I have the privilege of knowing and serving. Thank you all for being
here.
Four years ago, I announced my candidacy for Commonwealth’s Attorney
from this courthouse.

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 I spoke to importance of upholding law without regard to zip code or
income, race or ethnicity, gender or social status, or whether you live on UVA
Grounds or off.
I pledged to uphold the dignity of the office.
To exercise the humility that comes with prosecution.
And recognition that legitimacy of the office flows from the fair and
faithful application of the law.
To seek justice by applying the law fairly on behalf of our citizens.
And four years later, I am proud to have kept faith with this charge.
As I stood before you then, I emphasized the importance of attaching
greater priority to protecting children. With increased cooperation from law
enforcement partners and the Albemarle County Police Department, we have
seen the number of child exploitation and solicitation cases rise substantially,
and our children are safer for it.
I spoke to the importance of holding sex offenders accountable, wherever
they commit their crimes. Working with Sexual Assault Resource Agency, our
jurisdiction became the first in the Commonwealth to include a Title IX
representative in our area Sexual Assault Response Team. Our work became a
model throughout the Commonwealth. And while work remains, notifications
and prosecutions increased as a result.

I expressed hope that Albemarle County should be the best place to

retire, and the safest. Working with area partners from the public and private
sector, Tina Robertson from Albemarle Adult Protective Service and other state,
federal and local partners, we established the Jefferson Area Coalition to End
Elder Abuse. Albemarle Police Chief Lantz dedicated a full time elder abuse
detective to assist this effort, and the number of cases we have brought has
increased substantially as a result. The Task Force also drafted and helped
secure passage of bipartisan legislation to make our seniors, which will become
effective next week. We will continue to hold accountable those who exploit
our seniors in nursing homes, assisted living facilities or elsewhere.

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 I emphasized importance of accountability for those who commit violent
crime against citizens. We established first Multijurisdiction Grand Jury in
Central Virginia to facilitate investigation and prosecution of violent offenses,
including the first Commercial Sex Trafficking in Albemarle County. We also
brought four violent gang members to justice for a brutal murder on July 3,
2017. And our work continues.
I spoke of the importance of proactive efforts to prevent crime and free
the innocent through DNA technology. Working with Sheriff Harding, Susan and
John Graham, Gil Harrington, Delegates Toscano, Bell, and Landes, we
expanded the DNA databank to solve crimes while exonerating the innocent.
Thank you Chip Harding.
I also discussed the importance of alternative dockets and noncriminal
options for non-violent low-level criminal offenders.
I have continued support for the Charlottesville Albemarle Drug Court,
and supported efforts to expand its reach.
And worked with Sexual Assault Resource Agency to increase awareness
and prevention efforts.
I became an Executive Committee member of the Gang Reduction
Through Active Community Engagement, or GRACE.
And with area partners, including Dr. Herb Stewart from Western State
Hospital, the City of Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney, Region 10, and
many others, I am proud to have helped lead creation of a Therapeutic Mental
Health Docket.
For the first time in our area, this docket provides low-level offenders
mental health treatment they need, not the jail time they do not.
Four years later, I am proud to announce we have delivered on these
commitments. But more work remains.
And for that reason, I am proud to announce that I am a candidate for
Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney.

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 In some of the last few years, the number of violent crimes increased
substantially, and we have sought justice for victims and families.
Some of these cases have made headlines, most have not.
To some, crime is a mere statistic, an abstraction.
But behind every crime is a victim or family who deserves justice.
Simply put, it is not compassionate to ignore victims of crime by ignoring
or pledging not to prosecute crime.
True humility lies as a prosecutor lies in fairly applying the law; not
willfully disregarding it.
With prosecution comes accountability.
With accountability comes deterrence.
With deterrence comes community safety.
And with safety comes the dignity owed to all citizens to live without fear
in their homes and communities.
I will never forget this, and make no apology for seeking justice against
those who exploit the vulnerable, attack the weak, or offend against our laws
and citizens.
If re-elected, I will continue to seek reforms to our criminal justice system.
To continue to work with Chip and others on DNA enhancement
To seek a bright line rule against driving under the influence of marijuana
And to continue ways to be proactive about preventing and reducing
crimes.
And to reduce recidivism by making sure those who serve their time are
given an opportunity to succeed once they have completed their sentence.
This approach is not weak on crime; it is smart on crime reduction.

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 Improving re-entry programs ensuring that those who serve time for their
offenses have faith and confidence to return to society with genuine
opportunity and hope for their future,
This requires support for training and re-entry programs, and renewed
commitment from the General Assembly and local officials
And I intend to use the voice of this office in reform efforts.
One such program is Pastor Washington’s Bridge Ministry, with whom our
office has been pleased to work and whose success in this field is inspiring and
affirming. I continue to work with The Bridge and other programs to reduce
recidivism in our community.
The last few years tested our community and values like never before.
Our community and law enforcement responded to hatred and violence
with unity and resolve.
As Pastor Alvin Edwards made clear, we must never allow ourselves to be
defined by those who hate us and our values.
White supremacy came to divide our community, but only unified us.
They sought to undermine our institutions, but affirmed their resilience.
They came to break our spirit, but only strengthened it.
We sought lawful accountability, not unprincipled vengeance.
Our work remains undone but our community withstood an awful test
and emerged stronger.
As Albemarle Comm Attorney, I will continue to seek justice on behalf of
all our citizens
And I will never lose sight of the fact that the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s
Office belongs to the citizens of Albemarle County, nobody else.
It does not belong to those who seek to ignore the laws we have an
obligation to uphold.

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 It does not belong to those who would bring a political agenda to an
office that should and must remain above politics.
It does not belong to those who want to be legislators not prosecutors.
Whose notion of criminal justice does not give full voice to the victims of
crime.
It does not belong to those who would make prosecution decisions based
on outside political pressure.
Rather, this office requires recognition that that the legitimacy of a
prosecutor rests in respecting and fairly applying duly-enacted laws of the
Commonwealth.
Who prosecutes criminal conduct, not the identity of defendants.
Who brings cases based on the facts, law, and evidence, not partisan
pressure.
Who upholds the oath of office to support the Constitution of the United
States and the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Who acknowledges our past, while affirming the fundamental goodness
of our Commonwealth, our country, and a system of justice that stands above all
others on Earth.
A leader who hears and respects all voices, not only the loudest or the
angriest.
Money in politics has been a feature of the U.S. political system for some
time.
But only recently has it become a major force in local races for
prosecutors who swear an oath to faithfully apply to law.
A prosecutor has discretion, but no authority to ignore the law.
That is what is at stake in this election.
Massive, direct campaign donations to local prosecutor races imperils
public confidence in the even application of our laws.

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 And big money contributions raise questions about what is expected in
return.
As a result, I will not seek, nor will I accept, any campaign support from
any individual or attorney representing any defendant in any criminal matter
before the office of Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney.
And I proudly affirm this pledge: my oath to support the law will not
waver.
The principle of Equal Justice Under Law is not negotiable.
And the office I am privileged to lead is not for sale .
For $50, $500, $5,000, 50,000, or any other price.
So as I begin this effort, I ask for your help and for your support.
Your commitment and your resolve.
The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office belongs to you.
In America, every voter has an equal voice on election day.
If re-elected, I will continue to uphold the law to the best of my ability.
To defend the Constitution of the United States and Commonwealth of
Virginia
And to uphold the dignity and trust of this office, to the best of my ability,
so help me God.

Thank you.