LAKE COUNTY — On July 1 the Multidisciplinary Interview Center located at the Victim-Witness Division of the Lake County District Attorney”s Office received grant funds in the amount of $17,415 from the Redbud Health Care District to replace outdated audio and visual recording equipment.
According to Program Administrator for Lake County District Attorney”s Office/Victim-Witness Division, Deborah Wallace, the Multidisciplinary Interview Center (MDIC) was created to give children who have been abused a comfortable, safe place to be interviewed by a forensic interviewer while other agencies are able to monitor the interview.
By interviewing a child victim once, the quality of the investigation is consistently enhanced allowing for successful prosecution, Wallace stated.
There are multiple collaborating agencies in the MDIC process; the Lake County District Attorney”s Office, Lake County Sheriff”s Office, Lakeport Police Department, Clearlake Police Department, Victim Witness, Department of Social Services and the Lake Family Resource Center.
“Since 2007, when the MDIC was built, we have been using two DVD players to record the interviews,” Wallace stated. “Over the past year the equipment began to fail compromising important evidence from the interviews. Sgt. Nick Bennett from Clearlake Police Department, a member of our Sexual Assault Response Team, facilitated a meeting and later a presentation to the Redbud Health Care District board to request funds for a new, state of the art recording equipment called Case Cracker.”
Wallace expressed gratitude on behalf of the District Attorney”s office to Redbud Health Care District for awarding funds to cover the cost of the equipment and a three-year service contract.
“We are fortunate to have built an invaluable relationship with such an amazing organization and the Lake County community will benefit from the state-of-the-art equipment for years to come, Wallace added.
