SMARTeam RESPONSE TO SEXUAL ASSUALT IN HENNEPIN COUNTY HOLDS OFFENDERS ACCOUNTABLE August 26, 2010
MINNEAPOLIS- The Hennepin County Sexual assault Multi-disciplinary Action Response Team (SMARTeam) held its first meeting on August 5, 2010 at the Minneapolis Police Department’s Fourth Precinct. The team’s purpose is to create systems change that will hold offenders accountable for their crimes and ensure victim safety throughout the criminal justice process. Minnesota currently has these teams operating in 12 counties and one tribal community. Nationally it has been demonstrated that those counties that have this type of coordinated response team have higher rates of prosecution and conviction of sexual assault crimes.
Representatives from the Sexual Violence Center, Minneapolis Police Department’s Sex Crime Unit, Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, Hennepin County Community Corrections – Adult Probation, Hennepin County Adult Protection, Sexual Assault Resource Service - forensic nurses, ARC Greater Twin Cities, Breaking Free, Hennepin County Victim Witness – Rape & Sexual Abuse Center, WATCH, Community University Health Care Clinic (CUHCC), and MN Indian Women’s Resource Center are the initial members on the SMARTeam.
The SMARTeam is replicating a national model developed by Anita Boles and John Patterson, that utilizes eight steps to improve victim safety and offender accountability: 1) Inventory of Existing Services, 2) Victim Experience Survey, 3) Community Needs Assessment, 4) Reviewing and/or Modifying Existing Protocols, 5) Formal Adoption of Written Protocols after Review, 6) Training, 7) Monitoring, and 8) Evaluation. This endeavor is funded through a grant to the Sexual Violence Center from The Minneapolis Foundation and through in-kind donations of space. mileage and staff time from SMARTeam member entities.
For more information please contact Pamela Zeller, Executive Director of the Sexual Violence Center (SVC) at 612-871-5100 ext. 16 or Jude Foster, Hennepin County Systems Change Program Manager - SVC at 612-871-5100 ext. 15. Email contacts for these SVC staff are pzeller@sexualviolencecenter.org and jfoster@sexualviolencecenter.org.
