NCJ Number
164252
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 23 Issue: 5 Dated: (May 1996) Pages: 38,40-42
Date Published
1996
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Law enforcement agencies are employing new methods of evidence collection, investigation, and followup and new case management technologies in the handling of domestic and child abuse cases.
Abstract
District attorney's offices are creating special units to handle the most severe domestic violence and child abuse cases. Police departments provide extra followup and collect evidence, primarily photographs, to document the extent of visible injuries. The district attorney's office in Riverside, California, created a family violence unit in 1995. Three attorneys assigned to domestic violence cases review all cases submitted by the police department. They take the cases where they believe the victim is most at risk and send the remaining cases to general felony attorneys. Riverside police officers have to be conscientious in gathering evidence, including photographs of the victim and the crime scene, broken furniture, and bloody clothing. In some cases, police officers conduct interviews with child witnesses. The Riverside Police Department believes victims are better served by a special unit focused on domestic violence. The prosecution of domestic violence cases is facilitated by new techniques such as digital imaging which allow photographs, witness statements, crime laboratory reports, videotape segments, fingerprints, mug shots, and even audiotape recordings of 911 calls to be stored and electronically accessed. Law enforcement officials in Riverside hope the combined effects of procedural and technological changes result in higher conviction rates and tough sentences. 1 photograph