When it comes to crime, prosecutors and law agencies are the two arms of justice. And like any efficient body — one hand needs to know what the other is doing.
So, Northern Judicial District Attorney Parks White said it’s important for his office to meet with law agencies in all five counties to review the law and how it can be most effectively enforced in the area.
White and victims’ assistant director Kristie Cross recently hosted 57 representatives from law agencies in the five-county Northern Circuit at the Comer Travel Musuem. Those on hand had barbecue and stew and reviewed the best ways to work together to keep citizens safe from criminals. Representatives from the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, the Georgia State Patrol, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Natural Resources and numerous county municipal agencies attended.
“We hope to have this training and lunch annually,” said Cross. “I am thankful to the Comer Police Department and the Comer City Hall for all their help.”
White said the meeting was “designed to foster relationships between investigative agencies and our office and to update officers on Georgia law. The DA said the law is always evolving and that it’s important for prosecutors to keep law enforcement agencies updated on what changes could impact them.
“Law enforcement officials have to practically apply constitutional and statutory restrictions on their ability to investigate cases everyday in the field,” said White. “It is the responsibility of the District Attorney to advise law enforcement officers concerning the sufficiency of evidence, warrants, and similar matters relating to the investigation and prosecution of criminal offenses. The law is constantly evolving, and in order to ensure that the evidence officers collect is ultimately admissible at trial, we must advise them of ‘the line,’ so that they don’t cross over it and end up tying the State’s hands in a prosecution.”
White offered the following example of how evolving laws impact officers.
“Prior to 2009, when officers arrested a person driving a vehicle, they hand the ability to search the passenger compartment of that vehicle, incident to arrest, without a warrant,” said White. “The Supreme Court changed that with Arizona v. Gant, and held that a search incident to arrest of a person removed and handcuffed and who did not have access to that passenger compartment was unreasonable without a warrant, and the evidence should be suppressed. An officer who had not received training since that decision might still be performing what are now improper searches.”
White said meeting with officers is basically a team meeting.
“We’re all a part of the same team, and we rise and fall on the same tide,” he said. “This is the reason we have conducted so many training sessions with law enforcement — we want them to be armed to the teeth with the skills and knowledge necessary to put together the best investigation possible.”
The DA said he is also working with agencies to have up-to-date information sharing.
“We’re working to improve the flow of knowledge between agencies and with our office,” said White. “Government moves at a snails pace behind the private sector, but we are slowly making advances in information sharing that will hopefully reduce much of our work to a paperless exchange.”
While bringing criminals to justice was a primary focus of the meeting, the officers also heard about the other side of the crime equation — the victims. Cross shared information about victims’ assistance with law officers at the meeting, including information about what help officers can offer to victims of domestic violence.
“Training officers to recognize domestic violence, encourage victims to seek help, and explain the victim their rights will save lives,” said Cross. “Last year, we coordinated with the Georgia Commission on Family Violence and the Prosecuting Attorney’s Council of Georgia to teach three classes on the subject of Domestic Violence. In domestic violence cases often the aggressors move their families around to avoid being revealed. Many times the cases worked cross county lines. A defendant in one county may also have a case in other counties in the circuit.”
Cross noted that Georgia is ranked ninth in the nation for its rate of men killing women and that there is a new case of child abuse or neglect in Georgia every 15 minutes.
“If you ask those who work in the criminal justice system they will tell you the victim cases involving children are often the hardest,” said Cross. “In 2012, we developed a Child Abuse Protocol for the circuit. Last year we coordinated with the Governor’s Office of Family and Children to teach a one-day class on child deaths. Our agency participates monthly in the Multi-Disciplinary Team Meeting held at the child advocacy center to discuss cases involving child physical and sexual abuse.”
Cross said her office, which is funded from federal grants and court-ordered fines on criminals, serves numerous victims across five counties.
“In 2014, the Northern Judicial Circuit Victim Assistance Program served 2726 victims with cases,” said Cross. “Of those, 1,407 were victims of violent crime. In Madison County alone we served almost 800 victims. Victims are referred to us daily for assistance. We also have victims contact us who we do not have cases on requesting assistance, those victims and serves are not documented.”
Cross said working with victims of crimes is difficult, but rewarding.
“In many cases the victim and the victim’s family will become more than a victim, they become my friends,” said Cross. “…A few of my favorites memories are a little girl who made us a video of her singing ‘Let It Go’ to thank us for helping her, and a mother whose daughter was killed tells me I am part of her family. We see things we cannot erase from our minds but I focus on the positive and the progress.”
