Electronic Crimes Task Force

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2016

In 2015, the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office established an Electronic Crimes Task Force comprised of ten Law Enforcement entities in the county. The effort was to collaborate, share and establish a high level of expertise to discover crimes and evidence of crime secreted within technology. The collaboration was initiated and developed from the law enforcement leadership in the county after several high profile murder investigations were solved from the ability to gather evidence from cell phones and other technologies. The effort has been very successful solving many crimes and gaining wide spread support across the county. In addition, the task force received the University Of Minnesota Humphrey Institute Of Public Affairs Government Innovation Award. Lastly, the task force was awarded a Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Grant to investigate order for protection (OFP) and do not contact order (DANCO) violations. From those investigations we have been able to establish protocols across the county that is reducing victimization and holding offenders accountable.