Andre Birotte Jr., former inspector general of the Los Angeles Police Department, was sworn in today as the U.S. Attorney for the district covering Southern California.
Birotte was sworn in by U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter in a private ceremony at the federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles.
The 43-year-old son of Haitian immigrants was nominated for the job by President Barack Obama.
Birotte is the first black U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, the nation's most populous, with responsibility for all federal litigation in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
"It is my great pleasure to be leading what is widely considered to be one of the nation's premier public law firms," Birotte said after the swearing- in ceremony.
"This United States Attorney's Office has a long tradition of handling some of the most significant cases in the nation, and my goal is to further enhance that tradition," he said.
The U.S. Attorney's position had been vacant since the September resignation of Thomas P. O'Brien, a career prosecutor who helped increase criminal filings in the office and presided over a wave of new hirings.
Birotte, who worked for the Los Angeles Police Commission, the civilian panel that oversees the LAPD, had been inspector general since 2003 and served as assistant inspector general from 2001 to 2003.
From 1995 to 1999, he was a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office he now heads.
The U.S. Attorney's Office, which currently employs 275 attorneys, serves more than 18 million residents in Southern California. It is the nation's largest federal prosecutors office after the District of Columbia, which handles both federal and non-federal crimes in Washington.
Birotte graduated from Tufts University in 1987 and the Pepperdine University School of Law 1991. He started his legal career as a deputy public defender for Los Angeles County, a job he held from 1991 to 1995.
He was recommended to Obama for the four-year term by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., after being selected by a bipartisan advisory committee she established.
"Andre Birotte Jr. is an outstanding candidate with strong support in the local community," she said in December. "He is highly qualified and I believe would bring significant experience to the office ... I was pleased to recommend him to the president."
As inspector general of the LAPD, Birotte earned "the enthusiastic support of both the police officers he is charged with investigating and the community organizations that often raise concerns regarding police behavior," Feinstein said.
"This ability to command respect from all sides bodes well for his nomination to lead federal law enforcement efforts in the communities of the Central District," she said.
The choice was also welcomed by the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents the LAPD rank-and-file.
LAPPL President Paul M. Weber previously called Birotte "a man of fairness and integrity who has been willing to review matters involving law enforcement with an objective eye."
The office Birotte leads is divided into three litigating divisions -- criminal, civil and tax -- and a non-attorney administrative division. Its jurisdiction includes 35 cities and covers more than 40,000 square miles, extending from the Pacific Ocean to the Nevada and Arizona borders.
