L.A. deputy mayor tapped for area’s top federal prosecutor

Eileen Maura Decker, Los Angeles’ deputy mayor on law enforcement and public safety matters and a former longtime assistant U.S. attorney, has been tapped to serve as the top federal prosecutor for the Los Angeles area, the White House announced Wednesday.

Decker has served as deputy mayor for homeland security and public safety since 2009 for Los Angeles Mayors Eric Garcetti and Antonio Villaraigosa.

She oversaw matters relating to police, fire and emergency management during a tumultuous time at the Los Angeles Fire Department amid controversies over the agency misstating its response times and allegations of nepotism in its hiring practices.

Prior to her arrival in City Hall, Decker served as a federal prosecutor for 15 years, rising to supervisory roles overseeing national security, organized crime and terrorism prosecutions.

President Obama, announcing nominations for U.S. attorney positions in the central district of California and Utah, said the nominees had “distinguished themselves as some of the best and brightest their profession has to offer.”

“I am honored to nominate them as United States Attorneys and know that they will faithfully and tirelessly pursue justice on behalf of the American people,” he said in a statement.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said she recommended Decker for the position because the top prosecutor for the central district, which covers seven counties from Santa Barbara to San Bernardino, “must be a highly-skilled attorney, an effective manager, and have the ability to work well with federal, state and local law enforcement.”

“Eileen’s 15 years of experience as a federal prosecutor and her tenure as the deputy mayor for Homeland Security and Public Safety in Los Angeles make her an excellent fit for this position,” Feinstein said in a statement.

Garcetti also welcomed the news, calling Decker “one of the nation’s finest public safety professionals.”

“Through Eileen’s leadership, crime is at record lows, the Fire Department is being overhauled and our city is becoming a model for disaster preparedness,” he said. “The president could not have made a better choice.”

During her years at the U.S. attorney’s office, Decker prosecuted cases involving national security, fraud and organized crime. She also worked in private practice at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in the early 1990s, and served as a law clerk for U.S. District Judge Gary L. Taylor.

Decker, 54, is a graduate of New York University, where she received her bachelor’s and law degrees. She holds a master’s from Naval Postgraduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security in Monterey.

For news on the courts, follow @vicjkim

Times staff writer Ben Welsh contributed to this report.