First Friday: Union County Prosecutor Grace Park

Grace H. Park was sworn in as Acting Prosecutor of Union County on June 17, 2013. As the chief law enforcement officer in Union County, Ms. Park oversees an office of 250 employees and an approximately $20 million annual budget, coordinating the law enforcement efforts of approximately 2,000 police officers in 21 local police departments, the Union County Sheriff’s Office, and the Union County Police Department. She is the first Asian-American county prosecutor in New Jersey history, and also the first female and the first minority to serve as prosecutor in Union County’s 159-year history. During her more than three years of sworn service, Prosecutor Park has overseen the prosecution of numerous high-profile and sensitive criminal cases, as well as introduced a variety of initiatives emphasizing transparency and accountability in law enforcement; these have included a comprehensive body-worn camera program for patrol officers, bias prevention training for all officers, and a variety of outreach programs. Prior to her appointment as Acting Prosecutor, Ms. Park had spent seven years as a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, prosecuting cases involving terrorism, narcotics, violent crime, healthcare and government fraud, and economic crimes. Her prior prosecutions include complex investigations of public and private companies as well as of individual defendants. Ms. Park is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and Harvard Law School, and she is admitted to the bars of the State of New Jersey, State of New York, the Federal District Court of New Jersey, Southern District of New York, and the U.S. Supreme Court.