Fresno Co. DA's office recognized by U.S. Attorney

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Fresno County District Attorney's office received an award from the US Attorney's Office on Tuesday.

On Tuesday morning in the Fresno County Board of Supervisors Chambers dozens of city officials, officers, and deputies watched as the Fresno County DA accepted a special award.

It's called the "Outstanding Law Enforcement Agency Award."

McGregor Scott, who is the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, presented the award.

Scott explained they chose Fresno County because of their long standing history of being able to work with his office to help reduce crime in the district.

He added they've successfully worked together on several major gang take-downs and continue to be in constant communication.

District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp tells us she was quite surprised when she learned they would be given this award.

"I think the fact that they noticed us was really really humbling for me to say 'Hey we do matter. We are relevant. We are doing great things'. It's really empowering and encouraging all of us to just to try more, work harder, think outside the box," she explained.

Smittcamp said working together is key.

"We are all working for the same goal, which is public safety. It's really easy when you remove your ego from the situation to just sit down and and say 'How can we work together?'," she said.

She mentioned it's also nice to be recognized now for all their hard work because there are a lot of people who are anti law enforcement. So being noticed is good for morale.