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embers of the media can use b-roll footage of an interview with Clackamas County District Attorney John Wentworth and footage of the meeting itself.
OREGON CITY, Or. -- District Attorney John Wentworth took the first step Wednesday in his effort to improve the way Clackamas County serves victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Wentworth gathered more than 30 leaders of county law enforcement, non-profit agencies and county departments at a morning-long meeting intended to start the conversation and to solicit ideas.
“Clackamas County stands out as having what is likely Oregon’s best response to family violence and sexual assault, we can do even better. We can become the model -- the Gold Standard --- for the entire country,” Wentworth said.
Wentworth proposed a countywide standardized certification program for all law enforcement agencies and recommended that police officers and deputies who investigate domestic violence or sex crimes have specialized training. Detectives and investigators would get advanced training. Washington and Illinois adopted such standards, he said.
Representatives of law enforcement agencies were supportive of the recommendation.
“You’ve got to start by believing,” Wentworth said. “We’ll deal with the obstacles later.”
Wentworth said most incidents of family violence or sexual assault go unreported and that some victims of domestic violence are hesitant to pursue prosecution of their abusers. He posed a question to attendees. If you had a loved one who was a victim of domestic violence or a sex crime, what would you want the system to look like?
The responses: To feel safe, to be believed, to be supported.
If Clackamas County becomes known for supporting and dealing compassionately with victims, more people will be willing to report crimes and pursue justice, Wentworth said.
“When we’re ensuring the best possible outcomes for victims and survivors of sexual assault, I think we really need to establish what that best standard and best practice is as far as investigations go,” said Lake Oswego Police Chief George Burke.
Moving forward, the group agreed to continue working toward becoming the national Gold Standard, incorporating best practices from around the country here in Clackamas County.
“I’ve spent 30 years of my career prosecuting crimes of family violence and sexual assault,” Wentworth said. “I want the community to know that the people who do this work every day -- who are there to protect them -- care. And that we’re doing our best to be our best.”
When asked what sets Clackamas County’s response to family violence and sexual assault apart from other Oregon counties, Wenworth cited several examples:
- High Risk Response Team: A multi-disciplinary group of law enforcement officers, advocates, prosecutors, and corrections officers who identify pending cases where domestic violence offenders are at high risk of reoffending or causing significant injury to their victim. The team then strategizes on how to best provide protection to the victim and their family.
- Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team: A multi-disciplinary team of law enforcement, advocates, prosecutors, and corrections officers who review DV homicides to identify what, if anything, the system could have done to prevent the homicide. The idea is that no domestic violence victim should die in vain.
- Specialized prosecution teams for sexual assault and domestic violence.
- Clackamas County has Oregon’s first family justice center --- A Safe Place --- (one of only two in the entire state). Family justice centers provide a one-stop-shop for services for victims of family and sexual violence.
- Clackamas County has Oregon’s only Camp Hope, a nationwide program that operates summer camps for children who have been exposed to family violence.
- Clackamas County led the effort to make strangulation a felony in Oregon.
Media contact: Scott Anderson, Clackamas County Public Information Officer
Phone: 503-742-4374
Email: dapio@clackamas.us
