PROMISING PRACTICE – Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
The U.S. city of St. Paul received legislative funding to create a “blueprint” (a highly detailed, foundational document) for how to build an effective criminal justice response to domestic violence. The Blueprint for Safety sets out goals and methods to enforce Minnesota criminal laws on domestic violence and maximize successful prosecutions for perpetrators. The Blueprint has the following suggestions for prosecutors:

• Engage in dialogue with the victim and avoid treating her simply as an information source.
• Act in ways that prioritize safety and respect a victim’s precarious circumstances and fear of the offender’s aggression:
  • Request a no-contact order.
  • When a defendant is not held in custody, request pretrial supervision.
  • Be responsive to questions about the risks and benefits of testifying and the risks and benefits of not testifying.

• Respond to domestic violence crimes in ways that are victim safety-centered but not victim-dependent:
  • Use all available sources of evidence that support charges independent of a victim’s direct testimony.
  • Seek charges stemming from a defendant’s actions after police arrival on the scene, witness tampering from jail, and violations of pretrial release conditions.

• Protect victims from retaliation because of their participation in prosecution:
  • Emphasize at every opportunity that it is the prosecutor’s decision on behalf of the community and the state to pursue charges, and not the victim’s decision.

(See: Praxis International, St. Paul Blueprint for Safety: An Interagency Response to Domestic Violence Crimes, ch. 6)