Serving Victims
This section presents information about victimization, victim characteristics, and the District Attorney’s (DA) Office’s engagement with victims, witnesses, and the general community.
Why is this important? Understanding the victim population, providing effective services, and timely engagement helps develop the mutual transparency and trust needed to advance community safety and well-being.
Important Note Regarding Victim Demographic Information: Demographic information about our victims lags far behind other areas of data collection. Our office is choosing to share this information despite several known shortcomings in data collection practices so that we can track and document improvement in these processes. We are working to implement changes to our office's data collection practices to address this concern.
Known inaccuracy: Our case management system has a "default" value of "Another Race/Ethnicity". This value appears when no other value has been entered. As a result, it is likely dramatically over-reported in our data. We are continuing to share this data as an accountability measure to better monitor improvement of this metric and our office's practices.
Remember: as noted above, our case management system has a "default" value of "Another Race/Ethnicity". This value appears when no other value has been entered. As a result, it is likely dramatically over-reported in our current data.
Indicators
Below are a set of indicators that provide additional context about serving victims. These indicators help the DA's Office ensure they are supporting crime victims with timely outreach, ensuring victims' voices are heard, and preventing future victimization.
Important note about race and ethnicity data: As we have noted for metrics that relate to a defendant, the information contained in this dashboard comes from a variety of sources and is NOT based on a consistent method of voluntary self-identification. We have some hesitation about the reliability of data for victim Race and Ethnicity due to how this was logged and maintained in our case management system. We will continue to work to improve this data but believe these metrics are an important part of our community's discussion on disparity and disproportionality in the criminal justice system.
Remember: as noted at the top of this page, our case management system has a "default" value of "Another Race/Ethnicity". This value appears when no other value has been entered. As a result, it is likely dramatically over-reported in our current data. That reporting would artificially inflate this metric tracking non-white victims.
Important note about race and ethnicity data: As we have noted for metrics that relate to a defendant, the information contained in this dashboard comes from a variety of sources and is NOT based on a consistent method of voluntary self-identification. We have some hesitation about the reliability of data for victim Race and Ethnicity due to how this was logged and maintained in our case management system. We will continue to work to improve this data but believe these metrics are an important part of our community's discussion on disparity and disproportionality in the criminal justice system.
Remember: as noted at the top of this page, our case management system has a "default" value of "Another Race/Ethnicity". This value appears when no other value has been entered. As a result, it is likely dramatically over-reported in our current data. That reporting would artificially inflate this metric tracking non-white victims.
Regardless of where someone lives they shouldn't have to be a victim of violent crime. Our office is committed to seeking justice for any victim of violent crime, regardless of where that crime occurred.
Our office is mindful that socioeconomic challenges can impact a case in a variety of ways, including things like whether a victim has the ability to take time off and the means to travel to appear in court. For persons crimes and sex offenses (the subject of the chart above) victim involvement is critical in the successful prosecution of those cases. Our office is mindful of the challenges victims face and we are committed to ensuring that our efforts treat victims and defendants equally without regard to their financial resources.
As we continue to monitor this data, we are committed to working with our law enforcement partners to identify strategies for prevention. Our office will aggressively prosecute individuals who commit violent crimes against children.
We are proud of the work of our dedicated attorneys in the Special Victims Unit and the strong partnerships they have built with SVU Detectives throughout our jurisdiction. This collaboration with law enforcement and the work of dedicated investigators helps build cases that can stand up in court. But, the courage of victims to report these crimes is the most critical step. If you or someone you know needs additional information or resources about reporting sexual assault, please click here.
Notes:
- Underlying data counts for each chart can be accessed through this link.