Calendar of Events

The OJP Crime Victim Justice Unit routinely responds to a wide variety of data-related questions from victims and victim advocates. This webinar will provide an overview of the basic statutory provisions that apply to crime victims and advocates, and it will answer some of the common questions related to accessing, withholding, and protecting crime victim data, including:

• What is the difference between public data, private data on individuals, and confidential data and why is that important to know?

• What statutory data protections do victim-serving organizations have?

• What statutory privileges might attach to conversations between advocates and victims (depending on the type of victim and advocate)?

• How do the data or confidentiality rules differ depending on whether the advocate works in a community-based program vs. a government-based program?

• How can victims request that their identifying information be withheld from the public in a law enforcement report?

• How can victims (and others) request a copy of a law enforcement report?

• How does the status of an investigation dictate what a victim (and others) can get when they make a request for a report?

• What do the statutes say about victims, advocates, and attorneys getting access to “domestic abuse reports” and how are those statutes being interpreted?

• What information can victims get regarding juvenile delinquency proceedings?

• How can victim/witness identifying information be withheld from a criminal complaint or during court proceedings?

• What information can victims get about the offender following conviction?

In addition to these issues related to specific victims, this webinar will also review the availability (or lack of availability) of aggregate data—for example, on arrests, charging, and convictions of domestic abuse—and will briefly highlight new statewide data that is available from the 2017 Minnesota Crime Victimization Survey (report to be issued by the beginning of May).