BOSTON, Feb. 28, 2018—Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley this week hosted local and federal partners for a series of meetings with a prosecutors’ advisory group on as part of an exclusive witness intimidation technical assistance grant that only two other cities have obtained.

Conley’s office and the Boston Police Department applied for the AEquitas Combating Witness Intimidation Initiative grant last year, and Boston was selected to represent one of the pilot cities to receive it. The grant provides resources from to collect data on witness intimidation, develop and implement strategies to overcome the phenomenon, and evaluate their effectiveness.

Members of Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley’s Homicide Unit, Crime Strategies Bureau, and Major Felony Bureau speak with representatives of the prosecution resource group AEquitas, Justice Management Institute, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Bureau of Justice Assistance as part of the Combating Witness Intimidation Initiative. The CWII will study the problem of witness intimidation, contemplate strategies to address it, and measure their results. Boston was one of just three cities nationwide to receive the grant.

“We’ve made huge strides in confronting witness intimidation since the Witness Protection Fund was created a decade ago,” Conley said. “This is an opportunity to go even further for the victims and witnesses we serve, and perhaps share successful strategies with other agencies across the country.”
AEquitas is a prosecutors’ resource group based in Washington, DC, that develops, evaluates, and refines strategies to improve victim safety and offender accountability in cases of sexual violence, domestic abuse, human trafficking, and other crimes. They partnered with the Justice Management Institute, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Bureau of Justice Assistance for the grant.

Conley, senior members of his staff, and representatives of the Boston Police Department, Boston Housing Authority, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development spoke with the grant team during a series of meetings this week to introduce themselves and identify the challenges posed by witness intimidation in all its forms – from gang violence to violence against women.

Prosecutors and victim-witness advocates from every level of Conley’s office briefed the visitors on their experiences with witness intimidation – from low-level municipal court cases to prosecutions in the Homicide, Gang, Sexual Assault, and Human Trafficking & Exploitation units. Members of the Boston Police Homicide Unit, Youth Violence Strike Force, Human Trafficking Unit, and Sexual Assault Unit also took part, as did BHA administrators and HUD analysts.

“Our partner agencies take this issue as seriously as we do,” Conley said. “I’m grateful for their collaboration and I’m excited for what AEquitas and the grant assistance can help us accomplish. It’s going to make a difference in court and the community.”

According to Aequitas, the project will “collect data about intimidation across the community and within the local criminal justice system, assist in implementing comprehensive responses, and evaluate the effectiveness of those responses over time. This partnership will amplify the impact of these efforts by developing additional tools to combat witness intimidation for real-world application by jurisdictions throughout the country.”

Deputy Chief of Staff Catherine Rodriguez led the effort to bring the CWII grant to Boston. Of other eligible cities across the country, only Baltimore and Baton Rouge were also selected.

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