NCJ Number
182286
Journal
Prosecutor Volume: 34 Issue: 2 Dated: March/April 2000 Pages: 30-36
Date Published
2000
Length
7 pages
Annotation
The Cook County State's Attorney's Office (Illinois) has developed a program called Target Abuser Call (TAC), which focuses on high-risk misdemeanor domestic violence cases in Chicago; the results are promising.
Abstract
TAC joins service providers, the advocacy community, and civil attorneys in a coordinated, multiagency response to the problems faced by victims of domestic violence. The TAC team is a specially trained, prosecution-based collaborative unit composed of two prosecutors with felony-level experience; two victim-witness specialists; four investigators; two administrative assistants; two advocates from a social service agency; a civil legal attorney from a legal services agency; and a social service coordinator. TAC works to increase the safety of domestic violence victims and ensure their cooperation in the legal process while providing a variety of services to address immediate problems and prepare for the future. After a year of operation, approximately 80 percent of TAC victims appeared and participated in the prosecution process, a rate significantly higher than non-TAC cases. The 90 percent conviction rate is also significantly higher than for non-TAC cases. Each TAC case is selected based not only on the defendant's domestic violence background, but also on the circumstances of the pending criminal case. An offender with two prior domestic batteries currently charged with domestic battery that involves little or no injury would meet the TAC protocol. Also, an offender with little or no domestic violence background who is charged with domestic battery that involves serious injury or other aggravating circumstances would be accepted into the TAC program. This paper details the operation of the TAC team and the roles of its individual members.