Q&A
Changes in DOC's investigation practices since 2019 Board of Corrections audit
1:40:10
·
3 min
DOC officials explain the changes implemented in their investigation practices since the 2019 Board of Corrections audit. These changes aim to improve the integrity of investigations and reduce re-victimization of individuals in custody.
- Investigators now conduct one comprehensive interview with victims to maintain investigation integrity and avoid re-victimization
- Business records are collected from the beginning of the complaint process, rather than waiting for a full investigation
- PREA supervisors are held responsible for ensuring thorough documentation during initial complaint dispatches
- Interviews are conducted in various locations based on facility layout and situational awareness, prioritizing privacy and safety
- The goal is to find appropriate spaces for confidential conversations with individuals in custody
Christopher Marte
1:40:10
Okay.
1:40:11
Just a few more questions, Jack.
1:40:13
Yeah.
1:40:14
In April 2019, the Board of Corrections published an audit of DOC's handling of sexual assaults and sexual enforcement reports expressing concerns that interviews are not always carried out with alleged victims and alleged perpetrators.
1:40:29
And that when interviews are conducted, they are not always in private and confidential location.
1:40:34
How has the department changed its investigation practices since 2019?
Ingris Martinez
1:40:41
Okay.
1:40:41
Thank you for that question.
1:40:44
So since 2019, I mentioned earlier, we have changed our processes as as far as maintaining the integrity of the investigation by interviewing the person's the victims one time.
1:41:02
We're previously 2017, 2018, the high call volume of complaints.
1:41:09
It was we dispatch our investigators.
1:41:11
They come back.
1:41:13
We he didn't wanna talk.
1:41:14
She didn't wanna talk, and then it gets reported out.
1:41:16
And now it's a full case.
1:41:18
Now you have a another pair of investigators going out to them reinterview.
1:41:23
Again, our aim is not to re victimize our persons in custody.
1:41:29
We collect all our business records from the beginning where before it was, oh, we'll pick it up when it's a full investigation or whoever it's assigned.
1:41:38
So we no longer use that practice.
1:41:42
We we hold our Priya supervisors responsible for when these dispatchers are being done on a complaint level to ensure that all business records are collected or documented so that we don't have that delay that first were reporting incidents that did not necessitate to be reported because it was in the scope of officer's duties, for example, but we didn't get that full interview.
1:42:10
Where are these interviews located?
1:42:12
So, currently, based on the layout of the different facilities, our investigators when they respond to the facilities, considering situational awareness, they look into the housing area, perhaps the housing area may have an interview room.
1:42:29
If it doesn't have an interview room, we have to take into consideration the feel of the housing area, you know, prior prior incidents of persons in that housing area, we may speak to the law office and say, you know, how many do you have today?
1:42:47
Perhaps we could use a day room.
1:42:48
But now we're disrupting minimum standards for those persons in in the day room.
1:42:54
We take into consideration all our situational awareness.
1:42:58
There are times that our victims are already at the clinic, so we'll take advantage of interviewing them in the clinic.
1:43:05
In not in the housing area.
Lynelle Maginley-Liddie
1:43:07
The goal is when conducting these interviews is to find the space appropriate to have that conversation with the individual in custody.
