Chair Brooks-Powers asks MOCJ role in ensuring timely NYPD discovery to DAs
Brooks-Powers asks what role MOCJ plays in ensuring timely discovery from NYPD and other agencies. Logan describes MOCJ as a 'log jam clearer,' citing an example of working with OCME to expedite DNA report reviews through overtime funding.
What role, if any, does Mach J have in ensuring that NYPD and other city agencies are providing discovery in a timely way to the DAs?
Mock J serves kind of as the log jam clearer, as it were.
We will get information about a challenge, and then we will specifically work with the stakeholders to move that logjam.
For example, we know that the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is critical in getting DNA evidence and reports on various categories of cases.
And we heard that there was some slowdown in getting those reports.
So our team will go in and we'll talk to the OCME.
And we said, what's going on here?
And we realized that they have senior people that have to review the reports before they go out to the various DA's offices.
Well, why aren't they being reviewed?
Well, because we have but so many personnel and they don't have enough hours in the day to do that.
So then for us, we're like, okay, how do we solve this problem?
We go and we talk to our partners at the Office of Labor Relations and OMB.
And we say, here is a challenge that is glutting the system and we need to alleviate it.
What do you think about being able to access?
funds that allow for overtime and making sure that the contracts allow for that in that category of employee.
And together with the stakeholders, we work out the way to get that done so that now the supervisors are able to have the time in the day to review those documents and that they're more timely being provided to the DAs and then the cases can move.
So that is an example of how we start to move and look at what the challenges are in the system.
Thank you for that.