40. Frederick Brewington

For all that Fred Brewington has done in his career, winning a $7-million county settlement payment to the family of Jo’Anna Bird this spring may take the cake. The mother of two was killed by ex-boyfriend Leonardo Valdez-Cruz in 2009. Fourteen Nassau County police officers and a patrol supervisor were reassigned or disciplined for failing to arrest Valdez-Cruz for domestic violence prior to Bird’s murder. The murder trial and lawsuit sparked new police disciplinary rules, increased efforts against domestic violence and a rare joint statement with the oft-indignant Nassau County Attorney John Ciampoli acknowledging a “breakdown in the system.” That’s true power: to get government to admit it was wrong.