We Need Examples of Cases Hindered By “Going Dark”

Encryption of smartphones and other digital media has thwarted law enforcement’s ability to keep communities safe. Even with a lawfully issued search warrant, the information requested cannot be accessed from encrypted phones. This loss of evidence is referred to as “Going Dark.”

To demonstrate the real dangers of Going Dark, we need to hear about your affected cases. Helpful examples include cases where evidence in a smart phone is unattainable due to encryption, but could have been critical in solving cases such as a homicide, a robbery, a lost child, or a terrorist attack.

Authors: PCE and National Black Prosecutors Association

As we know, prosecutors must be fact-based and fair in the pursuit of justice. Prosecutors cannot base their judgements on whim, bias or hunches. Studies have shown that all people have implicit biases that could influence their decisions. Training can help prosecutors to understand this issue and provide strategies for assuring that prosecutorial decisions are based on the facts and not predisposed by irrelevant implicit biases.

Here are some articles and a podcast about good prosecutors:

The Boss Didn’t Play Politics – New York Law Journal (12/16/2016) Read

Criminally Yours: What Makes a Good DA -Above The Law (10/17/2016) Read

Video evidence is exploding. Surveillance videos, YouTube clips, smart phone recordings and body worn camera videos are frequently part of the evidence in a case. This primer provides guidance for managing video evidence in the office and for introducing it in court. Read

Author(s): Kristine Hamann, Rebecca Rader Brown

A prosecutor’s core mission is and has always been to promote justice and to protect the community by ensuring public safety. Over the past 30 years, the way prosecutors approach this mission has evolved. In place of the old, reactive criminal justice model, prosecutors and police are using new methods and evidence to take a proactive, broader approach to preventing, investigating, and prosecuting crime.

Prosecutor-focused courses in law schools are an excellent way for prosecutors to expose law students to their work and to have students available to do research on prosecution issues.  Statewide Best Practices Committees have benefited from working with their local law schools to develop classes that can focus on emerging issues and policy questions. 

One of the many benefits of being part of the Best Practices network is the ability to share information with prosecutors across the country about promising programs and how to implement them. Prosecutors’ Center for Excellence (PCE) held a two-day conference in Boston on July 19 and 20, 2016 with prosecutors from 17 states in attendance. One topic was how to create community programs on a shoe string.

Here is a sampling of the varied – and excellent – programs highlighted during the meeting:

An often difficult decision faced by prosecutors is whether to use evidence provided by a so-called jailhouse informant. Individuals, when incarcerated, may let their guard down with other inmates and speak freely about the crime with which they have been charged. They may also (perhaps falsely) claim to have committed some heinous act simply in an effort to “impress” fellow inmates. At the same time, inmates facing other charges may try to barter with law enforcement, providing information allegedly learned from a fellow inmate in exchange for some benefit, such as a lesser sentence.

June 30, 2016 — Volume 15

There has been great scrutiny of police-involved fatalities and how they are handled by prosecutors. Here are four thoughtful approaches by prosecutors on how they have reported their findings when no criminal charges are brought (in alphabetical order by jurisdiction). Three articles on this subject are also included.

June 23, 2016 — Volume 14

Around the country, prosecutors have supported the recording of custodial interrogations and have pushed for the creation of voluntary policies and, in some instances, endorsed legislation. Police have embraced this technology as well. The Colorado Best Practices Committee issued a report providing a national perspective on the progress made in this area. Also included are sample policies and articles from other states that reflect prosecutor’s leadership in promoting the recording of interrogations.  Much of this work was spearheaded by Best Practices Committees.