In the midst of a national debate about police accountability, one New York prosecutor has shown he's willing to accuse cops of brutality.

In November, District Attorney Kenneth Thompson announced his office would prosecute two Brooklyn officers for punching and pistol whipping a suspect. Earlier this month, his office got an indictment against a cop who stomped on a man's head. And last week, he brought the case against Officer Peter Liang for shooting Akai Gurley to death in a darkened housing project stairwell.

The cases come against the backdrop of Eric Garner, the Staten Island man who died after a police chokehold in July. When the Staten Island District Attorney failed to obtain an indictment against the cop in that case, it touched off protests across the country, and a political debate over whether local prosecutors should have authority over misconduct by the very police officers they work with every day.

Thompson, Brooklyn’s first African-American District Attorney, was elected in part on a promise to help reform the NYPD’s controversial stop and frisk policy. He has fiercely defended his independence. But in an interview with WNYC, Thompson, the son of a cop, says there's no political motivation behind the recent spate of cases against cops.

"I'm not sending a message at all -- that is not my intent," he said. "My intent is to be true to the obligation that I took on when I became Brooklyn DA, and that is to do justice."

He was effusive in his praise of police, pointing out that a number of officers rushed to save Gurley. And he repeatedly credited the NYPD for its cooperation in his office's investigation. Thompson said his office has a great relationship with the department.

Thompson is not the first DA to go after dangerous cops and it's led to some public battles.

Elizabeth Holtzman was Brooklyn District Attorney during the 1980's and formed a special unit to handle police brutality cases. Largely in response, five-thousand cops organized by the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association rallied outside her offices, calling her soft on crime.

"There was a huge outcry as though this were anti-police," she said. "It was not anti-police, it was pro-justice and it was pro law enforcement and pro having people have confidence in the criminal justice system."

 Holtzman’s successor, Charles Hynes, did go after some cops for brutality and wrongful death — but none between 2008 and when he lost to Thompson five years later.

 In 2004, his office investigated a killing with eerie similarities to the Gurley shooting. Officer Richard Neri also shot and killed a man in a darkened housing project stairwell. 

Officer Neri testified in front a grand jury and was ultimately not indicted. Likewise, Officer Daniel Pantaelo testified in grand jury proceedings about the death of Eric Garner and escaped prosecution.

 Officer Liang did not testify during the week-long grand jury proceedings in Brooklyn earlier this month. His attorney, Stephen Worth, said he didn’t believe Thompson would present a complete case.

"He didn't testify in the grand jury because my instinct was it wasn't going to be a fair grand jury and now that I've seen the indictment, my instincts were right," Worth said.

Thompson said his office conducted a fair and thorough investigation. His attorneys started looking into the shooting almost immediately.

As for the number of cases against cops in such a short period of time, he points out that there was video evidence of the pistol whipping and the stomping incidents. Such technology wasn’t as common years ago.

"I wouldn't say that there's so many indictment against police officers at this point, but I think that the nature of the evidence when you look at video tapes for instance -- many of the instances that you're alluding to were captured on videotape," Thompson said.

 As for the union, which endorsed Thompson over Hynes in 2013, it has been largely silent, except for a terse statement saying Officer Liang deserves due process. The PBA declined further comment for this story.