Innovative approaches to successfully prosecuting human trafficking (2020)

King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office (Seattle, WA)

Population: 2,269,675 | Number of Full-Time Prosecutors: 250 | Contact Information

The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office (KCPAO) is using innovative approaches to successfully investigate and prosecute sexual exploitation and sex trafficking cases through IPS grant funding and collaboration. 

The IPS team is partnering with local NGOs such as The Lantern Project (SAS)and Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST) in addition to working more collaboratively with King County’s Child Advocacy Center. With these partnerships, KCPAO is enhancing its capability to identify victims and connect them with services and provide additional resources to assist law enforcement in the identification and prosecution of offenders

Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office (Leesburg, VA)

Population: 405,312 | Contact Information

The Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office (LCCAO) is enhancing its Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) by hiring a dedicated prosecutor. Together with allied professionals on the SART, the prosecutor is leveraging data and technology to identify gaps in victim services and crime responses and to develop responsive programming.

St. Paul City Attorney’s Office (St. Paul, MN)

Population: 305,877 | Contact Information

The St. Paul City Attorney’s Office (SPCAO) created the “Gone on Arrival (GOA) Project” to address threat issues in domestic violence cases when the offender is not at the crime scene when law enforcement arrives.

Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office (Santa Rosa, CA)

Population: 496,801 | Contact Information

The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office (SCDA) is creating a Sonoma County Opioid Prosecution Effort (SCOPE) initiative to respond to a significant increase in opioid and fentanyl-related overdose deaths and a resulting backlog in investigations and prosecutions of involved parties. Staffing and technology solutions will assist in increased investigation of these cases.

Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office (Portland, OR)

Population: 647,810 | Number of Full-Time Prosecutors: 78 | Contact Information

The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office (MCDA) is enhancing its Strategic Prosecution and Services Unit (SPSU) so it can focus on violent high volume system users (HVSUs) who require specialized approaches. MCDA is hiring a Project Deputy District Attorney (DDA) who will be assigned to the SPSU.

Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office (Bridgeton, NJ)

Population: 335,562 | Contact Information

To decrease case processing times and efficiently dispatch discovery, the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office (NJ) (CCPO) Juvenile/Domestic Violence Unit is replacing its outdated manual case system with Infoshare, an updated information technology that includes Juvenile eScreening, an eDiscovery Portal for the juvenile module, bates stamping, and redaction tools.

The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in Seattle, Washington has provided civil protection to victims of domestic violence for over thirty years through its Protection Order Advocacy Program. They now leverage a tool called Legal Atoms, a software platform in which protection order specialists can work alongside victims remotely to complete the steps necessary to file for a civil protection order. See PowerPoint. The office also created Project Safety, a partnership with civil Legal Aid to provide legal navigators to DV victims to assist them with needed civil services. 

Social isolation isn’t stopping the Nassau DA’s office from connecting to their community. See how they’re virtually reaching out more than ever.

Issued on June 19, 2020: The killing of George Floyd by police is a tragic and disturbing event that is a call to action for those in the criminal justice system. The protests and outrage are in almost every corner of our nation and worldwide. The injustice and inequality in our society is well known and cannot be ignored. It is clear that we must do better.

District Attorney General Amy Weirich discusses remote Grand Jury with officers presenting their cases via Zoom. They now have three remote Grand Juries.