The recently launched product, Versaterm CommunityConnect for Prosecutors, is an offshoot of the Canadian company’s Versaterm SPIDR Tech, which focused on law enforcement.
The newer product offers automatic text and email communication capabilities to connect prosecutors with victims, witnesses and other case participants.
The general idea is to improve such communication — which can be vital to court cases as they slug their way through the legal system one hearing and motion at a time — without increasing workloads for prosecutors and their staffs. The tool also lets victims track their own cases, according to a statement.
“A case doesn’t stop at the conclusion of a law enforcement investigation,” is how Rohan Galloway-Dawkins, chief product officer at Versaterm, told it to Government Technology.
As the product gains clients in those states and others, he said, one of the lessons emerging is that “the community in general is really hungry for better communication with their public safety resources.”
Public safety and court operations can seem opaque to most people, he said. That includes those determined to cooperate with police and see a court case through to the very end. As well, prosecutors are generally eager for tools that can help boost the efficiency of agencies that can be overworked and understaffed.
“It’s a real morale booster,” Galloway-Dawkins said.
Next up, he said, could be more tools that focus on the public defender’s side of the justice system, including better notifications for those sentenced to drug courts and diversion programs, or alerts that focus on pretrial court activity, which can help defendants avoid warrants and additional charges.
As that trend plays out — better communication for those involved in the legal process — courts also stand ready to boost their technology in other areas in this new year. That includes better cybersecurity and harnessing the growing power of artificial intelligence.
