Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Acting Erie County District Attorney Michael Keane defeated challenger James Gardner on Tuesday to earn a full term as the county's top prosecutor. He says he credits relationships with law enforcement and community leaders.
"It's a little surreal, but it feels great," Keane said Tuesday while speaking with reporters. "I had incredible amount of support across the community... it's humbling, quite frankly, to have the number of people that literally came out to help me for the last year, dropped everything. You can't do this without a huge gathering of people."
Keane says he and former District Attorney John Flynn decided to create a presence in the community outside of the offices they worked out of.
"We had to develop relationships with the people who are most affected by the violent crime in the community. That's the one thing," Keane said.
The other was the office built great relationships with the police departments, and he thinks that resonated because they're at the ground level.
"If we're not working together, if we don't have great working relationships, we're not gonna be able to do our jobs very well," Keane explained.
Keane says his office is constantly adapting, and he'll continue that as District Attorney.
"We're constantly dealing with new situations that come up. For example, the opioid crisis, the stolen car crisis that's taken place in this community and other communities across the country," Keane noted.
He adds when you have the experience that we have in the office, you can adapt, and you can figure out solutions to those problems.
Gardner was not available for comment following the District Attorney's race.