Recent Developments
Since the year 2000, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office has responded to increased auto theft, narcotics and youth gang activity through the formation of special task forces in conjunction with federal, state and multi-state law enforcement agencies. During this time, ECPO also completed a second generation of computerization complete with e-mail and Internet access and increased its outreach to the public through its newly-established Community Justice Program and its public web site. ECPO also established a fatal vehicle collision investigation unit, and a program to assure humane treatment and accurate evidence collection from the victims of sexual assault.
To respond to increased incidence of witness harassment by street gangs since 2002, ECPO has stepped up its witness protection efforts, and has opened a modern 15,000-square-foot (1,400 m2) crime scene office to replace a small, outdated facility. The new facility features a forensic processing room, digital photo processing room and a drying chamber designed to process and package blood-soaked evidence. Its computer system is linked to the N.J. Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) to identify and match fingerprint evidence. Computer software allows detectives to visually reconstruct crime scenes. In addition to investigating homicides, shootings and sex crimes, the ECPO Crime Scene Unit is able to assist county police departments in burglaries and other criminal investigations.
Also during Prosecutor Dow's tenure, the process of handling most criminal cases after arrest and bail-setting was revised from a "horizontal" structure involving separate departments handling initial evaluation ("screening"), grand jury presentation, and trial or plea negotiation, to a "vertical" structure where one team of assistant prosecutors and support staff handles a case from start to finish. By early 2008, the "vertical trial units" handled most cases, although some cases continue to be handled partly or entirely by the special investigatory units dedicated to arson, sexual assault, domestic violence, narcotics, economic corruption and gang-related cases.
Read more about this topic: Essex County Prosecutor's Office
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