Victim/Witness Services in the Covid-19 Era

When the State of New Jersey was forced to close its government institutions, one group of citizens that were severely impacted was the victims of crime. Victim Witness Coordinators and Advocates still needed to provide support services and information to these victims, who have the right to be kept informed. In many instances, the only source of comfort for some victims comes from the Coordinators and Advocates at the County Prosecutor’s Offices. The New Jersey Constitution contains the Crime Victim’s Bill of Rights, among those rights is “to have inconvenience associated with participation in the criminal justice minimized to the fullest extent possible.”

The InfoShare^® Victim Witness Suite aided New Jersey counties in fulfilling their constitutional obligations despite the pandemic and the “new normal” that everyone was facing. As expressed by one of our client agencies, “The Victim Witness tools and modules that your team has developed over the years have been a vital lifeline throughout our time of telecommuting. As many of us were thrust into this “new normal” of “working from home” there was one that we all felt confident in and that was the support of CSI. While we were trying to grasp the fact of our new reality, you reached out and immediately offered your support and services.”The InfoShare^® Vitim Witness Suite is intertwined with the eScreening/Central Judicial Process and Prosecution of criminal cases, which are also contained in the InfoShare^® product line, and contains the following elements:

• Victim/Witness Biographical Data: Within each case is the pedigree information for victims including their contact information and relationship to the case (victim, victim-survivor, victim-parent, etc.)


• Letter Generators: Based on case event data that is entered and/or imported from a variety of interfaces, a wide array of notification letters are electronically generated that can be printed & mailed, e-mailed, or sent to the Victim/Witness Public Facing Portal.


• Victim/Witness Public Facing Portal: This portal allows victims to register an account, track their case through the Justice System, send the Victim Impact Statement, have input on plea bargains, and other related matters. The victim can also pose questions and find a plethora of resources with links geared specifically for their type of victimization.


• Victim Stat Tracker: While the Coordinators and Advocates are performing their services, they can easily enter their activity so that administrative and grant reports can be generated with ease. Thus, allowing the dedicated Victim Witness Coordinators and Advocates more time providing important services and less time doing paperwork.


• Victim/Witness Smart Phone App with Mapping: This application has all of the features of the Public Facing Portal with the convenience of being on the victims’ phones and also includes an optional mapping feature that will provide door-to-door instructions to victims to get to the services they may need such as a shelter, hospital, or other social services.

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, the New Jersey Victim/Witness Coordinators were able to leverage the InfoShare^® Victim/Witness Suite to maximize their efforts while working remotely from home:

• Coordinators and Advocates have had the basic but essential ability to access victim contact information, enabled by InfoShare^®’s patented Engine®, which accommodates distance working via VPN and/or other CJIS compliant channels. Without having remote access to this lifeline would result in no contact with the victims for months, leaving them feeling even more confused and abandoned.


• Because InfoShare^® products are designed to complement one another and streamline operations, the notes and general victim services notes feature allowed Coordinators and Advocates to see what communications had already taken place in the case or with a victim. This capability was crucial at a time when the staff did not have the same access to their prosecutorial colleagues that they did while physically in the office.


• The Victim/Witness Public Facing Portal and Phone Apps allowed Coordinators and Advocates to offer portal registration or email notification of letters. As one of our other client agencies pointed out, “We were physically out of our office for over two months with no ability to print out the Victim Witness letters like we used to do on a daily basis. As a result of the Letter Generator, the Portal, and the Phone App, we effectively e-mailed and posted everyone’s letters.”


• Coordinators and Advocates had access to all relevant case materials such as investigative reports, allowing the staff to assist and support claims for crime compensation with the Victims of Crime Compensation Office.


• Coordinators and Advocates could aid victims and witnesses by accessing case notes and reports, enabling Prosecutor’s Offices to continue to sign many U visa certifications as appropriate. This invaluable public service helps undocumented immigrants, who have been the victims of crime. Without this service, immigrants would often not come forward, and criminals would continue to prey upon those communities.

CSI Technology Group is very proud of the InfoShare^® Victim Witness Suite, an invaluable service that would benefit any agency in the United States that cares about its victims. Oftentimes, the criminal justice system is confusing and intimidating. However, by putting victims in contact with dedicated Victim/Witness Coordinators and Advocates, we are making a difference in the experience. Being a victim is a traumatic event, no matter the crime, because the person’s own sense of safety and well-being are violated. Putting tools into victim’s hands empowers and guides them through the Criminal Justice System just a bit more easily.

For more information, please contact Richard Norcross at rnorcross@csitech.com.