By Police1 Staff
ST. PAUL, Minn — Zero Abuse Project is a national nonprofit organization committed to transforming institutions in order to effectively prevent, recognize and respond to child sexual abuse.
The organization looks to affect individual and societal change for the protection of children through a trauma-informed approach of education, training, prevention and response.
Zero Abuse Project recognizes that training is not often available around forensic science and evidence collection; in response, the organization has created a resource that empowers law enforcement and prosecutors working child maltreatment cases.
The new publication, “Evidence Collection in Child Abuse Cases: A Primer for Investigators and Prosecutors,” explores major types of evidence in child abuse and neglect casework, including child abuse-facilitated homicide and sexual assault scenarios.
This publication, available free of charge on the Zero Abuse Project website is essential reading for police and prosecutors. Topics include developments in trace evidence, expanded timelines for the collection of sexual assault kits, Alternative Light Source technology for the detection of biological evidence and bruises, and much more.
The goal of this document is to empower multidisciplinary team (MDT) professionals responsible for investigation and subsequent prosecution of such crimes as it pertains to evidence identification, best practices in processing and collecting such materials, and exploring emerging and non-traditional considerations to investigative leads for evidence detection that can improve successful prosecution of child maltreatment, and ensure that justice is served for those children impacted by such circumstances.
To learn more about Zero Abuse Project’s many trainings, free events and resources, follow the organization on social media and sign up for their email list at www.zeroabuseporject.org/join.