FREEHOLD – Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni has announced the implementation of two new initiatives focused on making the office stronger in the areas of domestic violence and cold case investigations.

As part of the initiative, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Family Division will now be known as the Family and Domestic Violence Unit.  While the office has always prosecuted Domestic Violence cases, this dedicated Domestic Violence Unit will permit additional attention and focus to those cases.  Under the supervision of Director Barbara Suppa, an Assistant Prosecutor from each of the three trial teams to be designated as a Domestic Violence Assistant Prosecutor.  These Assistant Prosecutors will receive additional training and gain further expertise in domestic violence prosecutions. Although these APs will continue to handle non-Domestic Violence cases, they will take on the bulk of the indictable Domestic Violence matters on their trial teams, handling those cases “vertically” from grand jury through trial.

The Family and Domestic Violence Unit will be supplemented by a dedicated prosecutor’s detective, as well as a bi-lingual sheriff’s officer provided as a task force resource by the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office. The development of this specialized unit within the Prosecutor’s Office, as well as the recent opening of the Monmouth County Family Justice Center in October 2017, will aid successful prosecutions of domestic violence cases and help protect those trapped in the cycle of domestic abuse.

With the institution of the new Cold Case and Fatal Accident Unit, additional prosecutorial staffing and resources will be dedicated to cold, unsolved homicides. The Unit, which will be headed by Director Meghan Doyle and supplemented by a prosecutor’s detective, will seek to provide fresh perspectives and implement new forensic techniques on these prior murder investigations. By affirmatively dedicating resources to this mission, it is hoped that those who have evaded apprehension will be held accountable for their crimes, and some closure will be provided to families who have been waiting a long time for justice.

The changes will take effect on Jan. 8, 2018.

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