The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office is seeking technical assistance in creating and designing an investigative database for the Wayne County Sexual Assault Kit Task Force (WCSAKTF). The grant would provide for an expert in data analysis and database management to aid in the merging of several existing databases created and maintained by law enforcement, prosecutors, and lab personnel.
The expert would aid the WCSAKTF in identifying and subsequently developing best practices in data driven investigation (and subsequent prosecution) of cases arising not only out of untested SAKs, but other crimes. The work would build on existing research and evidence based strategies developed to address over 11,000 untested SAKs in Detroit to help identify and address operational needs. The work would foster the sharing of information between multiple agencies and ensure their continued collaboration in addressing these cases.
An expert in data analysis and database management is necessary to begin this process. Expert knowledge is required to identify and address operational and programmatic needs for the creation and maintenance of a single collaborative investigative database. An expert would also determine the most efficient way to achieve the goal, by expansion of an existing database, merging several databases, creating a new database, or by linking the databases. The expert could potentially complete the process of merging and creating the database during the term of the project.
The problem of untested SAKs is not unique to the City of Detroit. It is hoped that the protocols, investigative techniques, and the investigative database developed by the WCSAKTF could be used as a model throughout the country. The creation of a collaborative investigation database would also allow the collection and tracking of data that should be invaluable for additional academic research on sexual assault investigations.
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In order to efficiently and properly investigate these cases, a single collaborative database needs to be developed. This can be done by merging the existing databases, creating similar fields and categories, and by applying consistent methods of reporting data between multiple applications. It can also be achieved by the creation of data bridges between the various applications to share data (either automatically or upon request). The case information involving offender characteristics, offense characteristics, and victim characteristics that are relevant to investigations need to be identified so that the correct data is collected.
Finally, in October 2014, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office (WCPO), Detroit Police Department (DPD), Michigan State Police (MSP) lab personnel, the Wayne County Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Program (WCSAFE), the Michigan Women’s Foundation (MWF), and the Michigan Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention and Treatment Board (MDSVPTB) joined multidisciplinary teams from Cuyahoga County (Cleveland, Ohio) and Memphis Tennessee to conduct the 2014 Sexual Assault Kit Summit. The collaborative summit involved identifying best practices and planning discussions on developing model protocols for investigating cases arising out of untested SAKs in the various jurisdictions. This included methods of using case data to identify and investigate suspected serial sexual offenders. This specifically included the use of case data to create investigative databases. These databases could then be used to develop offender profiles and offense profiles to aide in the identification of serial sexual offenders by creating investigative leads. This would not be possible without the creation of the investigative database.
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