The following is a press release from an organization unaffiliated with Voice of OC. The views expressed here are not those of Voice of OC.
ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
NEWS RELEASE
TONY RACKAUCKAS, District Attorney
Michelle Van Der Linden, Spokesperson
Office: 714-347-8405 Cell: 714-323-4486
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: April 19, 2017
OCDA ASSUMES ROLE AS STATEWIDE LEAD TRAINING AGENCY IN TRAFFIC SAFETY FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT AND PROSECUTORS
SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) Appellate and Training Unit has assumed its role as the statewide lead training agency in the area of traffic safety for law enforcement and prosecutors. OCDA has been working in partnership with the Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) since 2011.
With the decriminalization of marijuana, California expects to see a rise in the number of drug impaired driving cases that will be investigated and prosecuted by statewide law enforcement entities. In Orange County, the crime lab reported a 40 percent increase in drug impaired driving submissions from 2015 to 2016. Several years ago, OCDA developed a multi- agency collaborative driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) prosecution, investigation and toxicology model which has served as the innovative foundation for the development of a statewide DUID program.
In October 2016, OCDA’s Appellate and Training Unit expanded their training role to the Southern California region serving as the lead agency in prosecution and law enforcement training, including the delivery of live trainings, roundtables, training videos, and legal updates. OCDA was recently asked to be the architect of a new statewide Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor and training program. As part of this process, OCDA will align law enforcement and prosecution agencies throughout the state to create a massive statewide training, resource and education network. This new responsibility offers OCDA the opportunity to share its expertise in the area of traffic safety as we work in partnership with our statewide partners to proactively investigate and prosecute traffic related crimes. It is the goal of OCDA and OTS to ultimately increase public safety in all jurisdictions throughout California.
The Appellate and Training Unit is headed by Assistant District Attorney Keith Bogardus. Assistant Heads of Court Susan Price and Nichole Nicholson and Deputy District Attorney Brian Orue oversee and administer all OTS grant operations.
###
Voice of OC posts press releases to provide readers with information directly from organizations. We do not edit or rewrite press releases, and encourage readers to contact the originator of a given release for more information.
To submit a press release email pressreleases@voiceofoc.org.