***MEDIA ADVISORY***

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 16, 2017

ELKHART COUNTY HOMICIDE UNIT

Media Contact: Vicki Elaine Becker (574) 296-1888

I am very pleased to come before you today with a group of law enforcement professionals and Mayors for the City of Elkhart and the City of Goshen to announce the formation of the new Elkhart County Homicide Unit.

This is a culmination of a long standing Elkhart County law enforcement tradition of joining resources to investigate homicides. If a homicide happens in this county, officers drop what they are doing and come to help, regardless of their jurisdiction. Every agency steps up. We have done a great job of this; but, it’s not so easy when you don’t work together on a daily basis. We are finally at a point where we are making this arrangement formal. We are now bringing different agencies from around the county under one roof so they can network and work together on a daily basis. When a homicide happens, the Elkhart County Homicide Unit has the backing of every agency in this county to assist with the investigation.

This way, we can bring individuals who choose to cause harm in our community to justice, and provide whatever support we can to those that are now grieving.

The new Elkhart County Homicide Unit is made up of the Elkhart Police Department, the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department, the Goshen Police Department, and the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney. Prosecutor’s Investigator Mark Daggy will be the Unit Commander and my liaison to the Unit. Lt. Kris Seymore, from the Elkhart Police Department, will be the Field Commander. He will manage day to day operations and handle officer assignments.

This is a collaboration, it’s nothing new. But, it is now formal, under one roof, and they are a team working together every day. We’ve seen it work well in the drug investigation world with our undercover ICE team. We used the ICE team model and applied it to the formation of the Elkhart County Homicide Unit. We know that by bringing everyone together and sharing resources, it will create the best opportunity for the people of Elkhart County.

The Elkhart County Homicide Unit will be responsible for all suspicious deaths, all homicides, all death incidents in which a vehicle is used as a weapon, all deaths of children under the age of eighteen (18) as well as officer involved shootings and use of deadly force events that result in serious bodily injury or death. We partnered in the past with the Indiana State Police to provide investigative assistance in those cases in order to make sure the investigation was objective. This is one of the main reasons the Homicide Unit is under my supervision. It doesn’t matter what jurisdiction you come from, we will still complete a thorough and objective investigation because I represent the entire county, not just one jurisdiction.

Therefore, we believe by having everyone together and having the resources from every jurisdiction in Elkhart County, not only will it provide for more thorough and efficient investigations but, it should improve the turnaround time as well. We believe Elkhart County deserves that.

The official Unit starts today. They can be reached at (574) 295-2821 or by calling the Office of The Prosecuting Attorney at (574) 296-1888. You can also leave at tip at www.elkhartcountyprosecutor.com or by sending an e-mail to media@elkhartcountyprosecutor.com.

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“Under Indiana law, all persons arrested for a criminal offense are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”