Having served in Onondaga County's District Attorney's Office for almost 16 years and as a defense attorney for 5 years prior to becoming the District Attorney, William J. Fitzpatrick has been involved with a variety of cases that covered every facet of the law. Sworn in as District Attorney in January 1992, Mr. Fitzpatrick is responsible for an office containing 46 Assistant District Attorneys, 13 Investigators and 40 support staff. Mr. Fitzpatrick was has been re-elected twice and is serving his fourth four-year term. The jurisdiction of this office includes the City of Syracuse and Onondaga County with a total population of just under half-a-million people.

As District Attorney, he has incorporated several programs that are integral parts of his administration. Program F.U.T.U.R.E. (Furthering Understanding and Tolerance Using our Resources in Education) is one. District Attorney Fitzpatrick and every Assistant District Attorney and Investigator are assigned to 5th grade classes throughout Onondaga County. Each member of this office works with the teachers to give students a positive role model and a better understanding of the criminal justice system. Program F.U.T.U.R.E. also gives every child an understanding of the evils of bias and hate related crime. Since its inception in 1992, this Program has touched the lives of over 20,000 children in Onondaga County.

Another innovative program started by District Attorney Fitzpatrick in February of 1992 is Project P.R.O.U.D. (Prosecutors Response to Offenders Using Drugs), an alternative to incarceration for non-violent drug offenders. Defendants are required to enter a drug rehabilitation program in lieu of jail. This significantly cuts down on the burden for taxpayers and places a renewed, productive citizen back into the community paying taxes and hopefully leading a drug and crime free life. This is the only Upstate New York District Attorney's Office currently administering this type of program and 100 people have successfully completed Project P.R.O.U.D.

From the beginning of his administration, District Attorney Fitzpatrick has always maintained that his Office speaks for those who cannot. In his first week in Office, Mr. Fitzpatrick created the Special Victims Bureau, which handles all cases involving domestic violence and sexual assault. The assistant district attorneys and investigators assigned to this Bureau are specially trained and experienced in handling these types of cases, particularly those involving children. Currently, the U.S. Department of Justice is using the Special Victims Bureau as a model for dealing with statutory rape across the nation. Because of the strength of this Bureau, District Attorney Fitzpatrick has led the way in creating a combined Abused Persons Unit for all police agencies in Onondaga County.

Because of his concern for women and children, Mr. Fitzpatrick implemented Project A.W.A.R.E. (Abused Women's Activated Response Emergency) in conjunction with ADT Security Systems. Implemented in 1995, ADT provides a home security system for the most at-risk women. These women are also provided cellular phones programmed to automatically call 911 in case of the imminent threat of harm. He also created the Victim Assistance Program whereby two trained social workers are on call 24 hours a day to assist victims of violent crimes and their families.

A trademark of Mr. Fitzpatrick's administration has been building partnerships with corporations and human service agencies in order to combat crime with the utmost efficiency possible. This Office is one of four nationwide sites selected for an U.S. Department of Justice grant for fighting youth violence. Together with several other community groups, he continually searches for innovative ways to deal with this problem such as Project SAFE, a collaborative effort with the U.S. Attorney’s office, and the Syracuse Partnership to Reduce Juvenile Gun Violence that involves the County Executive’s Office as well as the Mayor.

In the Fall of 1995, District Attorney Fitzpatrick created Project Safe Schools. This was designed to reduce weapons brought into the Syracuse City Schools. A fifty-dollar reward is provided for information and retrieval of any weapon, two hundred dollars for a handgun. Since its inception, over 125 weapons have been recovered from the schools and this program has proven so successful that it is being expanded to cover all the school districts within Onondaga County.

Also in 1995, Mr. Fitzpatrick formulated D.I.R.T. (Drug Interdiction Response Team) for the purpose of developing cases against mid and upper level narcotics traffickers. This team has also succeeded in enhancing cooperation with the U.S. Attorney’s Office as well as local and statewide police agencies.

Over the past year, District Attorney Fitzpatrick has initiated several pilot programs for the rest of New York State. In July 2001, along with New York State Supreme Court Judge James C. Tormey, this office began Community Court that handles "quality of life" crimes in the City of Syracuse. The long-term goal will be to initiate this program throughout Onondaga County. In addition, Mr. Fitzpatrick’s office has been selected to pilot several programs such as one for Workers’ Compensation Fraud, Victim Restitution and is the first to get off the ground J.E.T. (Joint Enforcement Team) which vigorously pursues monies owed by "dead-beat dads".

A 1970 graduate of Xaverian High School in Brooklyn, New York, a graduate of Syracuse University in 1974 and a 1976 graduate of Syracuse University Law School, Mr. Fitzpatrick originally began working in the District Attorney's Office in March of 1975 as a law clerk. Admitted to the bar in 1977, he progressed rapidly over the next decade through the ranks of the office until in 1983 he became a Chief Assistant District Attorney, the youngest person ever appointed to this position. During his tenure, he was originally assigned to the Felony Trial Unit, assisted in the prosecution of homicide cases, handled violent felony cases and eventually was responsible for overseeing the prosecution of all homicide cases in Onondaga County.

After taking charge of the Homicide Bureau in 1983, Mr. Fitzpatrick took 20 defendants to trial for murder in a 3-year period with a conviction rate of 100%. In 1985 alone, he took 7 straight murder defendants to trial, convicted all as charged and all 7 individuals are now serving life sentences for their crimes. As Chief Assistant District Attorney, Mr. Fitzpatrick specialized in re-opening cases that had previously been considered inactive and, with the cooperation of various police agencies in Onondaga County and the state of New York, he brought numerous killers to justice in cases that were thought to be un-winnable.

For 5 years (1987-1991), Mr. Fitzpatrick worked in general practice of the law handling a variety of criminal, civil, personal injury and medical malpractice cases in Onondaga County and throughout New York State. In addition to his legal work, he served as an Adjunct Professor at Syracuse University Law School from 1987 to 1988, where he taught a course on Trial Practice.

Mr. Fitzpatrick has lectured extensively on various aspects of the Criminal Justice system at numerous colleges and public forums across the nation including New York State Governor Mario Cuomo's and Governor George Pataki's Law Enforcement Forums. He is a member of the New York State Forensic Science Commission and served on Judge Judith Kaye’s Drugs and the Courts Commission. He also played an instrumental role in establishing the Forensic Science Center in Syracuse, which will be utilized statewide and have DNA testing capabilities as well as working on Sexual Assault Reform legislation.

Mr. Fitzpatrick has addressed numerous groups nationally on the subject of infanticide and was personally responsible for bringing to justice a Tioga County woman responsible for the deaths of her 5 children. Waneta Hoyt, who was sentenced to 75 years to Life for smothering her 5 children over 20 years ago, was originally thought to be the mother of 5 babies who had succumbed to SIDS. Pursuing the case in 1992, Mr. Fitzpatrick's dogged detective work led to her arrest, trial and conviction. This case gained national notoriety, had been featured on Eye to Eye with Connie Chung and is the subject of two books "Goodbye My Little Ones" and "The Death of Innocents", the latter winning the prestigious Edgar Allan Poe award for "Best Fact Crime Book". On related cases, he has appeared on 20/20 and Dateline. The resultant publicity has led to increasing national awareness in the medical and legal communities regarding infant homicide.

District Attorney Fitzpatrick completed his term as President of the New York State District Attorneys’ Association in July of 1999.  The NYS DA's Association awarded Fitzpatrick the Prosecutor of the year award in 2003. The NYS Bar Association named him Outstanding Prosecutor in 2005.  He is also a member of the Onondaga County and New York State Bar Associations and he has been a member of the National District Attorneys’ Association since 1984. In 2007 he was appointed New York State Representative to the National District Attorney's Association. He is extremely active in his community and has been involved with Vera House (a local shelter for battered women), the Ronald McDonald House, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Rape Crisis Center and several other community groups.

Mr. Fitzpatrick was born on October 13, 1952 and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He resides in LaFayette, New York with his wife Diane, a Justice of the New York State Court of Claims, and their 3 children, Daniel, Sara and Sean. His parents are Bill (a retired New York City Police Officer) and the late Anne Fitzpatrick.  His brother Barry, is currently the Principal of Mount St. Joseph's High School in Baltimore, Maryland. Mr. Fitzpatrick is a little league coach, a golf enthusiast and also enjoys collecting baseball memorabilia.