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SATI e-News: September 2, 2002
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Innovative Police Work Yields
Results: Miami-Dade Police Dept. Creates Award-Winning Sexual
Crimes Clearing House |
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The Miami-Dade Police Department
launched a project in July 1999 that attempted to fill a void in
intelligence sharing among local law enforcement agencies about
serial sex offenders. A little over two years later, the Sexual
Crimes Clearing House (SCCH) has generated numerous success
stories, increased cooperative efforts among South Florida law
enforcement agencies, and has been recognized as a model
program.
Housed within Miami-Dade PD’s Sexual
Crimes Bureau, The SCCH is a centralized intelligence entity
that allows dozens of Florida jurisdictions to share data about
sex crimes. A data entry form accepts information about the
incident location and time, victim characteristics, offender’s
description, modus operandi (MO), and a synopsis of the crime. A
specific database was created to track subjects of exposures and
lewd and lascivious exhibitions.
The SCCH accepts sex crime data from any local agency and enters
this into one central database, increasing the likelihood of
identifying a serial offender. The objectives are the reduction
of sexual assaults and enhanced prosecution of sex offenders.
The SCCH significantly enhances shared communication between
police agencies by linking cross-jurisdictional cases and
encouraging networking and the sharing of viable leads by
hosting monthly intelligence meetings.
The SCCH is unique in that it not only assists in the identity
of subjects of sexual offenses that occur within the
jurisdiction of Miami-Dade PD, but also aids investigators from
30 other municipalities in Miami-Dade County. The SCCH also
works in conjunction with their neighboring counties; Monroe,
Broward, and Palm Beach.
“The SCCH is a great example of how cooperation can help solve
sex crimes,” said Joanne Archambault, founder and president of
Sexual Assault Training and Investigations (SATI). “DNA is an
amazing tool, but the reality is, you don’t always have forensic
evidence available,” she continued. “There is still so much room
for the sort of creative thinking and cooperation they’re doing
in South Florida, I hope we see more of it.”
The SCCH is staffed by one police sergeant, two intelligence
analysts, two police crime analyst specialists and one police
records specialist. The project was recently awarded the 2002
NACO Achievement Award and was recognized as a semi-finalist for
the IACP Webber Seavey Award. It has been nominated for the
Innovations in American Government and Rocky Pomerantz awards.
For further information about the SCCH, contact Sergeant Dehlia
Bailey at (305) 477-1112, ext. 289 or e-mail her at
dbailey@mdpd.com |
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