Silence Case

The attorney said that various techniques can be used to get someone to talk. As an example, he said that they sometimes have already taken a statement from the witness which they have signed. When a person tries to change their statement on the stand, the attorney will bring up the statement that they have signed and show it to them and say "Isn't this your signature on this statement?" He also said that witnesses testify in a federal case. No civil or municipal court cases are handled by Witness Security.

Next he talked about what happened once a witness is accepted into the Witness Relocation Program. An initial interview is conducted with the witness to determine what level threat they have encountered. A Level 1 Threat is when no actual threat has occurred. A Level 2 Threat is when a threat has been made or there has been an act of vandalism. A Level 3 Threat is when someone was harmed or murdered, and in this case there is immediate relocation.

There are also various responses to each threat. For Level 3 Threats there should be notification by the witness to the investigators. For Level 2 Threats the Chief of the original unit will make the intimidation investigation a priority for the witness. Surveillance on the residence is done by various organizations. They may also move the witness and/or family to temporary housing. There was a lot more talked about in the seminar but the main point was that people need to be educated about these things. The community needs to come together to help with the fear that people feel for others in their neighborhood.