NCJ Number
247305
Date Published
August 2010
Length
19 pages
Annotation
After reviewing the history of the Massachusetts Witness Protection Board, which was legislatively authorized in 2006 to administer the Commonwealth's first statewide witness protection program. This report presents information on witness protection services in Massachusetts during fiscal year (FY) 2009, based on the witness protection petitions filed by the attorney general and district attorneys' offices.
Abstract
The report's sections address case characteristics, protected witness characteristics, incident characteristics, and costs. In FY 2008, the Board received 77 petitions for witness protection, an increase from the 45 petitions in the previous fiscal year. This significant increase in petitions resulted from growing interest in the program as well as the initiation of training programs conducted by the Board at district attorneys' offices throughout the Commonwealth. Despite this heightened interest in the program, however, the Board received only $168,799 in funding for FY 2009, causing the Board to tighten its guidelines and advise prosecuting officers that it would likely approve small amounts of funding. For FY 2009, the Board was able to serve 35 new witnesses as well as provide additional services to 35 witnesses who had already received previous protection services. The Witness Protection Program has proven to be a critical tool for prosecuting officers in keeping key witnesses safe. The Suffolk County district attorney credits the Witness Protection Program as a factor in its conviction rate of 95 percent of its cases. In FY 2008, witness-protection cases most often involved murder; however, in FY 2009, most cases involved attempted murder (34 percent), followed by assault and battery (34 percent) and murder (31 percent). 5 tables and 12 figures