Office-Based Assistance

1.) Have a secured centralized information system that allows our office to pull up information (after scanning & labeling documents) quickly without having to pull out piles of papers. This system will also ideally be able to generate lists, reports (data & financial) and charts from information keyed in. Said system will also allow for users to pull up and display specific grants by year, source and subgrantee/subrecipient.

Regarding caseload distribution, further study is needed. Efforts will include implementing surveys and focus groups in an effort to greater understand the work duties of lawyers vs. non-lawyer staff members. Our belief is that attorneys may be handling administrative and clerical duties that are more efficiently handled by non-lawyer staff. Similarly, recruiting and staffing issues suggest exploring office reorganization. The pandemic forced our agency to permit telework or remote working. Going forward, a substantive policy needs to be developed for the office.

Regarding caseload distribution, further study is needed. Efforts will include implementing surveys and focus groups in an effort to greater understand the work duties of lawyers vs. non-lawyer staff members. Our belief is that attorneys may be handling administrative and clerical duties that are more efficiently handled by non-lawyer staff. Similarly, recruiting and staffing issues suggest exploring office reorganization. The pandemic forced our agency to permit telework or remote working. Going forward, a substantive policy needs to be developed for the office.

The Westchester County, New York District Attorney's Office requested an assessment of their problem solving courts. BJA NTTAC referred this request to the National Association of Drug Courts.

The Arkansas City, Kansas Police Department (PD) requested technical assistance in leveraging crime analysis software to better address property crimes and high rates of traffic accidents in the jurisdiction. Stewart Bruce was selected to fulfill this request and provided onsite evaluation services of existing resources, met with agency personnel and other law enforcement and community stakeholders, and developed a comprehensive final report with recommendations for how the PD can better deploy resources. Mr. Bruce delivered the final report to the PD in July 2017.

The Lamar, Colorado Police Department requested crime analysis TA support. The request was closed by BJA NTTAC as the requestor was unresponsive.

The Detroit, Michigan Violence Reduction Network Site (VRN) site requested continued support for the Michigan State University (MSU) School of Criminal Justice, Crime Analysis Field Placement Program. MSU student analysts were placed in the Detroit Police Department (PD) Gang Intelligence Unit, Detroit PD and Michigan Department of Corrections Gang Intelligence Unit, Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Detroit Public Schools Police.

The city of Detroit faces significant public safety challenges that include high rates of violent crime. A number of initiatives, including a number of federally-supported initiatives, are in place. The Detroit VRN team’s impression is that the impact of these initiatives could be enhanced through greater coordination across efforts. Analytics, technology support, and training may assist efforts to coordinate across initiatives and create greater synergies within specific agencies and across the network of local, state and federal criminal justice agencies and stakeholders.

The Sandoval County District Court would like to receive some training and guidance with our pretrial services program. A general training in the research recommended functioning of how the program should be run as well as some support in the purchase or development of our own PTS risk assessment tool is very much needed.

WE ARE A CHAPLAINCY AGENCY WITH 500 MEMBERS WE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE MORE TRAINING TO HELP OUR COMMUNITY.