As part of its dynamic and intellectual luncheon forum series, Pacifica Institute OC branch was honored to host Orange County district attorney Tony Rackauckas. The topic which Attorney Rackuckas chose to speak about was entitled, “Providing an overview of the DA’s office”.
Tony Rackauckas not only talked about his office but also about law enforcement and how it functions in Orange County. He mentioned his pride about the objectives he achieved together with the Orange County District Office. Furthermore, Tony Rackauckas stated the numbers of officials working in the police department: 800 in the district office, about 250 attorneys and 170 investigators. Our investigators are police officers and they are from different police departments, with most of them being from Orange County, Rackauckas stated.
Moreover, he gave information on what their job further entails. “Our job is to enforce state laws within this framework; the office reviews 80.000 cases in a given year, mostly criminal cases. When taking on a case, the office has a team-like characteristic, each department covering a different area, sort of like an assembly line.” When taking on criminals, Tony Rackauckas outlined how well DNA identification works in order to find them. What truly makes the system special is that the DNA of everyone who committed a crime is being put in a database via a sample. This makes solving crimes much easier, because it so accessible and plausible.
He mentioned that human trafficking is something the office has become more aware about. It is an area that certainly requires more attention. “They are captured in another country, brought here against their will and turned into slaves. A unit has been put together in order to take on these slave owners. The lady in charge of this is Susan Schroeder. There are 52 open current cases, 45 convictions, flawless with zero losses, is what she underlined.” Another unit Rackauckas gave information about was G.R.I.P. (gang reduction intervention partnership). Basically the police force teams up with the school along with private organizations like churches and such, he explained. D.A. Tony Rackauckas’s presentation on the DA’s office was important in informing the local community of how officials are working as hard and best they can to maintain the security and well-being of their community.
The event concluded with a Q&A session and light refreshments.