January 9, 2012 -- To mark the completion of his first year in office, Baltimore City State's Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein reviewed early accomplishments of his administration, highlighting 15 new initiatives.
"Year one was a time of great transition in the State's Attorney's Office. To make our city safer and more just, we completely transformed our operations. We are now more strategic, effective, and efficient. More important, the changes we have implemented are already producing positive results and more is to come," State's Attorney Bernstein said.
"None of the programs we have initiated, or the results we have seen, would have been possible without our partners in the criminal justice system. I deeply appreciate the hard work and dedication of Governor Martin O'Malley, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Commissioner Fred Bealefeld, U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein, and the professionals at the Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention and the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services."
Year-one initiatives include:
Community Prosecution
To build even stronger relationships with the police and public in order to more effectively fight crime, State's Attorney Bernstein transformed the office by implementing what is known as a community prosecution model. In the past, the office's more than 200 prosecutors were assigned to units, each one focused on a different type of case, such as narcotics and firearms. Under the new model, we have replaced those units with three new divisions, each one focused on a specific area of the city. By working more closely with people where they live and police where they work, prosecutors can become as knowledgeable about the needs of their neighborhoods as they are about the law.
Major Investigations Unit
Dedicated to the investigation and prosecution of violent, repeat offenders, the Major Investigations Unit, launched in June, works with our local and federal law enforcement partners and employs a wide range of proactive investigative techniques to build successful cases. The data are clear: a relatively small number of people commit a disproportionately large amount of the violent crime. By successfully investigating and prosecuting violent, repeat offenders, we will have a major impact on the safety of Baltimore.
Sex Offense Unit
To improve the quality of sex offense investigations and prosecutions, the State's Attorney revamped the Sex Offense Unit and implemented new practices. We now have a new division chief who is an expert in the prosecution of cases involving complex forensic evidence, as well as a new deputy divi¬sion chief who is a former senior attorney and training coordinator at the National District Attorneys Association in the area of sex offense and sexual child abuse. We also are working with the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) and our law enforcement partners to improve the system of response.
Vertical Prosecution
By switching to what is known as vertical prosecution, we now get the prosecutors who will see cases all the way through disposition involved at the very earliest stage. This replaces a process where multiple Assistant State's Attorneys would play a role in a case before assigning it the prosecutor responsible for seeing it through to disposition. Earlier involvement enables prosecutors to build better cases and improves the efficiency of our office.
Charging & Plea Bargaining
To ensure fairness and consistency, the State's Attorney established guidelines to inform all decisions regarding charging and plea bargaining. Such decisions are critical to the criminal justice system, the needs of the community, and public safety. Our goal is to ensure that to the fullest extent possible, people in similar situations receive similar treatment. In addition to our primary objective of prosecuting, convicting, and incarcerating violent criminals, we are committed to fairness and achieving justice.
Civilian Review Unit
Launched in July, the Civilian Review Unit was established to more effectively and efficiently resolve citizen complaints of alleged criminal conduct. Citizens have the right to file applications alleging criminal conduct with an independent court commissioner. Prior to the creation of CRU, prosecutors often met with people who filed such complaints for the first time on the trial date. Now, they must meet with a dedicated prosecutor within one week of filing an application. This early involvement improves outcomes and fairness.
Victims & Witnesses
Justice is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve without the full cooperation of victims and witnesses. But as we all know, there are those who seek to deter victims and witnesses through intimidation and even violence. To improve our performance when it comes to protecting victims and witness, engendering their trust, and ensuring that they feel free to testify openly and honestly, we have taken a number of steps. In addition to hosting a summit of experts with Congressman Elijah E. Cummings, we have forged a more cohesive working program with the Baltimore City Police to both address issues of witness intimidation in particular cases and provide services and protection as needed.
Problem-Solving Alternatives to Prison
In many cases that involve no violence or threat to the public's safety, incarceration is not the solution. In fact, it is often quite the opposite. Consequently, we have worked hard to expand what we refer to as problem-solving programs. For instance, we have significantly expanded diversion programs dedicated to cases involving prostitution and marijuana. And we worked with the Bench to expand the mental health docket.
Conviction Integrity Unit
To evaluate claims of innocence and error, we created the Conviction Integrity Unit. In addition to ensuring justice for those who have been convicted, the unit is also analyzing cases with an eye toward producing better prosecutorial practices.
Police Integrity Unit
After conducting a comprehensive review of the former Police Misconduct Unit, State's Attorney Bernstein reorganized it and expanded its responsibilities. The unit tracks allegations of police misconduct to ensure the State's Attorney's Office meets its ethical and professional obligations regarding disclosure of information in criminal cases. It is vital to maintaining public trust in our criminal justice system that the State's Attorney's Office acts vigilantly to ensure that allegations of police misconduct are thoroughly investigated and, where appropriate, prosecuted.
Collaboration
In myriad aspects of our work, we are collaborating more closely than ever with the Baltimore City Police and our federal partners. There is a direct correlation between the strength of our relationship with them and the safety of our city.
Training
One of the State's Attorney's most important jobs is to provide his Assistant State's Attorneys with the tools they need to become more skillful prosecutors and advocates in the courtroom. To that end, we established a comprehensive training program that draws upon the talents and wisdom of experienced trial lawyers from both government and the private bar.
Technology
By making difficult budget decisions and aggressively pursuing grants, we have secured funds to bring our office into the 21st century in terms of technology. The new equipment, software, and capabilities enable us to be more effective and efficient. Moreover, by harnessing the power of current technology, we can better manage, track, and measure performance.
Community Involvement
The citizens of our city have a vital role to play in the criminal justice system. To make the most of our partnership with the public, we are partnering with groups throughout the city to help them track cases and to facilitate the composition and submission of community impact statements.
Recruitment & Hiring
To attract the highest quality lawyers with a passion for public service, we have overhauled the recruitment and hiring process, adopting a methodology common in the private sector.
Results
Our efforts are producing positive results. For example, the felony conviction rate during the second half of 2011 was 65 percent, up from 63 percent during the same period in 2010. The homicide conviction rate in 2011 was 71 percent compared to 64 percent in 2010. We are also securing longer sentences for defendants involved with guns. The average sentence for felony gun cases was 118.1 months in 2011, compared to 108.1 months in 2010. Meanwhile, average suspended time went down to 55.1 months from 57.3 months.
"This is a good opportunity to again express my deep appreciation to the Greater Baltimore Committee for supporting an ad hoc group that conducted an analysis of best practices in prosecutors' offices up and down the East Coast before I took office. And of course I want to thank the participants. Together, we created an informed and strategic game plan that is guiding our efforts to make Baltimore a safer, more just place to live, work, and visit."