DA’s Office Receives Grants to Fight Crime
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office has received grants totaling more than $4 million for fiscal year 2007 to support specialized programs including insurance fraud investigation and prosecution, anti-drug abuse enforcement and spousal abuse investigation.
“These grants enable the District Attorney’s Office to augment our existing efforts to protect the community in all of these areas,” said former District Attorney George Kennedy.
- Insurance Fraud
The California Department of Insurance has awarded four grants totaling more than $3.6 million to the District Attorney’s Office for insurance fraud investigation and prosecution. Insurance fraud impacts businesses and consumers in California. Employers, employees, and insurers are forced to contribute to the system that pays out on undiscovered fraudulent claims. For example, auto insurance fraud costs each consumer an additional $200 a year per policy.
- Anti-Drug Abuse Enforcement
Statistics show that methamphetamine is the number one drug problem in Santa Clara County. The $315,397 grant from the State Office of Emergency Services will allow the DA’s office to continue efforts with meth suppression and drug related violence suppression through the Anti-Drug Abuse Enforcement Program.
“In Santa Clara County, methamphetamine has surpassed cocaine, heroin, and PCP as the main drug of choice for all age groups,” said Assistant District Attorney David Howe.
- Spousal Abuse Investigation
The Domestic Violence Unit of the DA’s office reviews more than 100 cases per week, totaling 5,300 cases per year. Of those, the DA files charges in 3,600 cases. The DA’s Spousal Abuser Prosecution Program has received a grant totaling $95,033 from the State Department of Justice to enhance its efforts to prosecute serious and repeat cases of domestic violence.
More than one third of the cases involve injury to the victim and one third of the cases occur while children are present.
The grant provides partial funding for a criminal investigator and provides victim services through a contract with Victim-Witness Assistance Center. The VWAC is a program of the Silicon Valley Conference for Community Justice, provides support to crime victims , including information about the criminal justice process; counseling, companionship, transportation for court proceeding, food, shelter, clothing and other emergency services.
