DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AWARDED FEDERAL GRANT TO PROVIDE VEHICULAR HOMICIDE TRAINING FOR PROSECUTORS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
MADISON - Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen today announced the Wisconsin Department of Justice has been awarded a federal grant of $20,115 to provide training for prosecutors and law enforcement officers in vehicular homicide cases. The grant was awarded by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Safety from federal highway safety funds.
"This grant will allow us to provide training to Wisconsin prosecutors and law enforcement officers to develop the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively investigate and prosecute vehicular homicide cases," said Van Hollen. "Vehicular fatality cases are complex in nature and require a great deal of coordination between prosecutors and officers."
Administered by the Department of Justice's State Prosecutors Education and Training (SPET) program, this funding will be used to provide a comprehensive two-and-one-half day training in March, 2009. The SPET program will work closely with Wisconsin's Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor and the Wisconsin State Patrol's Technical Reconstruction Unit to provide a training opportunity that is mutually beneficial to both law enforcement and prosecutors.
Topics to be addressed include effective evidence gathering at the crash scene, crash investigation and reconstruction techniques, vehicle and occupant kinematics, alcohol toxicology, and trial issues. In addition to the general sessions, it is anticipated that there will be separate learning tracks for officers and prosecutors.
The Department of Justice will provide $5,000 in matching funds, a requirement for securing the grant award from the Department of Transportation.
For more information on this training, officers and prosecutors should contact the Department of Justice's SPET Director, Tami Dzikowich, at spet@doj.state.wi.us, or the Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor, Tara Jenswold-Schipper, at jenswold@wisc.edu.
