Spokane, Washington
Spokane Municipal Prosecutor, Probation, and Public Defenders jointly partnered with New Dawn to create an integrated criminal justice system.
AGENCY IMPACT
Spokane Municipal Prosecutor creates a safe public through hard work and dedicated teams. But in order to maintain a well-run municipal government, they demanded a case management system to simplify their process in a powerful and elegant way. They also needed a vendor that provided unique, integrated and focused case management software solutions and a partner with sector practice expertise for not only prosecutors, but also probation and public defenders. An in-house built Microsoft Access database held Spokane back from creating an integrated system and from achieving the goal of a paperless office and courtroom.
We use JustWare in live court every day. We walked away from paper files and do not plan to go back. Unquestioningly, JustWare is a superior product viewed from any angle. Its flexibility and adaptability enabled it to meet the needs of any user.
Jim Bledsoe, Assistant City Attorney, City of Spokane
“We file anywhere from 10,000 to 12,000 criminal cases a year,” said Jim Bledsoe, Spokane Assistant City Attorney. “Moving all those files around to meet the various dockets resulted in hours and hours of pulling, sorting, and re-filing cases by our staff. We were also using a very large amount of paper to provide the three agencies [Prosecutor, Probation, and Public Defender] with the basic police report.”
A technology solution was needed to completely streamline the criminal justice system in Spokane. The Municipal Prosecutors, Probation, and Public Defenders jointly created a partnership with New Dawn to implement JustWare. “We liked JustWare’s flexibility and potential for a paperless office and courtroom,” said Bledsoe. New Dawn project managers began immediately to implement agency-defined elements into JustWare for the three participating offices, with one shared database between the JustWare | Prosecutor and JustWare | Probation & Parole solution, and one stand-alone JustWare | Defender database used by the Public Defenders.
Spokane implemented JusticeBroker, New Dawn’s integration tool, to create a seamless integration between agencies. “JusticeBroker is a conduit between these two databases that will not only accelerate the communication of information, but standardize it, and ensure accuracy,” explains Bledsoe.
Before JusticeBroker and JustWare, the preliminary task of transmitting the police report between the three agencies was a long and arduous task. “This process used to take several days to accomplish, or in some cases longer, and was composed of an intricate set of steps and procedures to ensure the report was produced and delivered,” recalled Bledsoe. Now with JusticeBroker in place to exchange data between the agencies, police reports are delivered in a matter of minutes, if not less. “Typically within three minutes or less, the public defender will receive all information contained on the face of the ticket—charges, who, what, when, and where, along with a copy of the police report itself,” said Bledsoe.
Ninety days after going live with JustWare, Non-DV Prosecutor and Probation went completely paperless in the courtroom. “We use JustWare in live court every day. We walked away from paper files and do not plan to go back,” explains Bledsoe. “Unquestioningly, JustWare is a superior product viewed from any angle. Its flexibility and adaptability enabled it to meet the needs of any user.”
COMMUNITY IMPACT
Through an integrated criminal justice system, the flow of justice for the communities of Spokane is well served. Better technology has come to mean better communities. Offenders are being moved through the appropriate channels with speed, resulting in a new sense of comfort on the streets of Spokane.
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