A Message
from
District Attorney Tim Cruz
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This Newsletter has been developed to provide you with important information about public safety and the services that are available to you through the District Attorney's office.
Public Safety has been and remains our top priority. We are committed to protecting of our children, our seniors, and our communities.
For our children, we will continue to expand the traditional role of this office to include extensive outreach and preventative programs in collaboration with our local schools and our local service providers.
We work to ensure our seniors are provided with the means necessary to for their personal protection from crime and abuse.
The collaboration between area residents and law enforcement agencies has been proven to be an effective method in fighting crime. We remain committed to this collaboration to solidify the revitalization of all of our communities in Plymouth County.
We hope that you find the content of this newsletter informative and useful.
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Plymouth County TRIAD Initiative |
The Right Information And Direction
Older adults comprise the most rapidly growing segment of our population. One in eight people are already 65 or older. This statistic represents more than 33.6 million older adults. With increased life expectancy, new issues for the criminal justice system have arisen.
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TRIAD has been developed to reduce the criminal victimization of our older population and to enhance the delivery of law enforcement services to them.
TRIAD is a nationally recognized program in which public safety, older adults and community groups all work together, to unify and implement the resources, programs and services that are currently available in their community.
The Plymouth County TRIAD is a cooperative effort that consists of the District Attorney, the Sheriff, the local Police Chief, the local Fire Chief, the Council on Aging Director, S.A.L.T. Council Members, older adults, and representatives from community groups that assist older adults in their community.
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Senior Safety with District Attorney Tim Cruz
In an effort to get the latest information out to our senior population during the COVID 19 pandemic, the TRIAD initiative, in collaboration with COA Directors and local cable access stations have created our "Senior Safety" series.
Senior Safety covers a wide array of topics such as:
- Current scams circulating around Plymouth County
- Elder Financial Abuse & Exploitation
- The effects of the COVID pandemic on our office and the Courts
Each segment is recorded via zoom by our local cable access stations and aired on thier stations. We have also uploaded a copy of each episode to our website for viewing.
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Community Reinvestment Program |
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M.G.L.c. 94C, § 47 has enabled District Attorney Cruz to establish a Community Reinvestment Program. The law allows the District Attorney to expend up to ten percent of these monies and proceeds that are seized annually, and reinvest these funds into the community for drug rehabilitation, drug education and other anti-drug or neighborhood crime watch programs which further law enforcement purposes. |
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Any program seeking to be an eligible recipient of these funds will be required to file an annual audit report with our office. The report should include a listing of the assets, liabilities, itemized expenditures, and board of directors of the program. The District Attorney’s office is required to file an annual report with the Legislature on the use of these monies for the purposes of drug rehabilitation, drug education, and other anti-drug or neighborhood crime watch programs.
Each year, DA Cruz has awarded numerous Community Reinvestment Program funds to youth organizations, school districts, neighborhood associations and TRIAD programs throughout Plymouth County at no cost to taxpayers.
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If a law enforcement officer encounters a child during a call, that child’s information is forwarded to the school before the school bell rings the next day. The school implements individual, class and whole school trauma-sensitive curricula so that traumatized children are “Handled With Care”. If a child needs more intervention, on-site, trauma-focused mental health care is available at the school.
The Handle with Care "HWC" program is tailored to reflect the needs and issues affecting children in Plymouth County. Our goal is to prevent children’s exposure to trauma and violence, mitigate negative affects experienced by children’s exposure to trauma, and to increase knowledge and awareness of this issue.
The ultimate goal of HWC is to help students to succeed in school. Regardless of the source of trauma, the common thread for effective intervention is the school or childcare agency.
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The Conviction Integrity Unit |
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The Convictin Integrity Unit "CIU" is dedicated to investigating and recommending necessary action in cases in which a claim of wrongful conviction or actual innocence has been brought to the attention of the District Attorney. When an erroneous conviction occurs, the District Attorney is often the right person, who can take remedial action for the defendant and the community.
The CIU carefully reviews claims of innocence or wrongful conviction, whether due to newly discovered evidence, such as cutting edge DNA testing, mistaken identification, or even mistakes by the court, civilian witnesses, forensic experts, defense counsel, prosecutors or the police. Such reviews are undertaken as cooperative efforts with defendants and defense counsel, in the pursuit of justice.
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Human Trafficking Task Force |
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Human Trafficking is one of the fastest-growing criminal enterprises in the United States and is a pervasive issue in Massachusetts, the last state to implement human trafficking legislation.
While the law has brought much needed publicity and a sense of urgency to the issue, communities continue to struggle with a lack of resources and training on trafficking investigations, prosecutions, and victim services.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs has awarded the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office and health and trauma services agency Health Imperatives $1.5 million in funding to bolster efforts to investigate and prosecute human trafficking cases and get victims vital services.
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The purpose is to develop and strengthen programs for victims of human trafficking, including enhancing the capacity of law enforcement and other stakeholders to identify victims and provide justice for victims through the investigation and prosecution of their traffickers.
The Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office and Health Imperatives will work collaboratively to use the funding to create the Plymouth County Human Trafficking Task Force.
The task force will be comprised of members representing a diverse array of community stakeholders relevant to addressing human trafficking issues. The Task Force intends to include members from local hospitals, educational institutions, law enforcement, non-profits and faith communities.
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The Plymouth County District Attorney's Office |
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166 Main Street
Brockton, MA 02301
508-584-8120
PlymouthDA.com
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