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OREGON CITY, Or. -- The Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office recently became the first agency in Oregon – and one of the first in the nation -- to adopt an advanced integration of district attorney and law enforcement systems that allows agencies to directly share reports for prosecution.
The new integration allows a specific records system used by law enforcement (Mark43) to integrate with the records system used by the District Attorney’s office, PROSECUTORbyKarpel (PbK).
Critical case information -- police reports, evidence, and case updates -- moves quickly and accurately between systems. This replaces a manual process that could result in delays and/or duplicate work. The Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office started using the new system in May.
“Successful prosecutions begin with timely, complete, and accurate information,” said District Attorney John Wentworth.
Wentworth noted some of the many benefits of the technology upgrade:
- Police officers can complete reports in Mark43 and electronically transmit case information to prosecutors through PbK, reducing delays.
- Information is automatically available to prosecutors, reducing administrative work while assuring data consistency and accuracy.
- Prosecutors receive reports and supporting documentation more quickly, enabling earlier case review and faster preparation for court hearings and trials.
“The time savings and reduced errors have been a big benefit for our office. Instead of reentering what was already typed by law enforcement agencies, we can transfer that information into our system,” said McKell Ridgway, Senior Business Operations Analyst.
“This also is a significant time savings for our legal assistants and allows prosecutors to make charging decisions faster and manage their caseloads more efficiently,” Ridgway said.
The Milwaukie Police Department now sends all of its criminal referrals via the integration. The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office was pivotal in the testing and implementation of the new integration and currently uses it for all in-custody cases, recogged cases, and citation dates. Canby Police Department and West Linn Police Department are slated to begin work on moving to the integration system in mid-September with other police departments around the county expected to participate shortly thereafter.
The start-up cost for the new system was just under $24,700. The District Attorney’s office pays Karpel $2,000 annually to maintain the system for system maintenance.