Law enforcement officers learn about domestic violence
About 50 area police and probation officers attended annual training on investigating crimes related to sexual assault and domestic violence and sexual assault Wednesday.
The program – sponsored by the Washington County district attorney’s office, Southwestern Pennsylvania Human Services and Domestic Violence Services of Southwestern Pennsylvania and held at Range Resources’ regional headquarters in Cecil – was paid for by a federal grant.
Among the speakers was Washington police Detective Dan Rush, who discussed capabilities of the UFED system, which the county uses in investigations to obtain files and other information from cellphones through an agreement with the Israeli company Cellebrite.
Rush, in his capacity as a per-diem detective with the county drug task force, conducts electronic searches of phones taken in investigations by area law enforcement agencies that obtain warrants or consent to search phones as part of criminal investigations.
County Detective Bev Ashton said electronic records from phones aid authorities in trials as well as in cases of suspected violations of protection-from-abuse orders, violations of no-contact orders put in place as a condition of bond, or in pursuing other possible criminal charges.
“Especially if it’s a threat, because then we’re looking not only at bond revocation but at potential charges,” she said.
The program also included a talk from a domestic violence and sexual assault survivor. Assistant District Attorney Kristin Clingerman spoke on applying previous statutes in decades-old sexual assault cases. About 25 victim advocates also attended.