Prioritization, Streamlining, and Precision Prosecution of Opioid Related Violent Crime (2018)

Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office (Detroit, MI)

Population: 1,793,561 | Number of Full-Time Prosecutors: 180 | Contact Information

The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office (WCPO) is working to prevent opioid-related overdose deaths by utilizing data science to locate and prioritize hotspots of overlapping opioid-related activity and violent crime, eliminating the threshold for case referrals to WCPO’s drug unit, and employing a one-person grand jury to streamline investigations of opioid-related overdose cases.

The initiative, funded by Innovative Prosecution Solutions (IPS), includes active partners from the Detroit Police Department, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and other criminal justice professionals in order to better coordinate a system-wide response. Researchers at the Michigan State University School of Criminal Justice are conducting data analysis to identify the areas hardest hit by the opioid epidemic, which will enable the IPS funded team to target enforcement and investigations with precision.