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NDAA Summer Conference, July 22-26, 2001 - Boston, Massachusetts
 With the theme, "Boston I-T Party," NDAA's 2001 summer conference program provided attendees with a comprehensive overview of the latest advances in technology and their importance to prosecutors. Prosecutors heard experts in virtually every phase of information technology explain how an increasing number of high-tech tools are giving them a widening "edge" over criminals.
Derek Smith, president of ChoicePoint, which specializes in software programs for criminal justice agencies, told the audience at the annual awards luncheon, "Technology has never been in a better position to help make our world a safer, more secure place. The new technologies offer the ability to dramatically speed the judicial process and improve efficiencies from arrest to adjudication... What we are talking about is not futuristic, pie-in-the-sky, rocket scientist material. Some of the technologies and tools are, in fact, decidedly low-tech. They are either already in the marketplace or within technical feasibility, and they certainly will make criminals think twice before committing a crime."
Smith discussed a number of available or evolving technical tools that accelerate identification, including interpretation of DNA evidence and the point-of-arrest production of a suspect's criminal and personal financial records. He declared that the chief barriers to widespread use of these tools are not technical, but involve "our society's deeply held beliefs about personal privacy." He declared "technology has surpassed society's emotional capacity to deal with the costs and benefits of the next generation of justice" and that the criminal justice community must do a better job of educating the public on the benefits versus the risks of the new crime-fighting technologies.
In the keynote address, Charles R. Stuckey, Jr., chairman of RSA Security, Inc., Bedford, Massachusetts, discussed the advantages of a closer relationship between the law enforcement community and the information security industry.
The program also included presentations on cybercrime, virtual reality fire investigations, "The Art of Persuasion: Using Multimedia in the Courtroom," "Current and Future Danger: An Executive Threat Briefing on Computer Crime and Information Warfare" (dealing with threats to the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information), identity theft, the Electronic Privacy Act, "The Need for Computer Forensic Training," how NAJIS can help prosecutors, DNA/biological evidence, "High Tech Crimes and Chat Room Investigations," "Courtroom and Trial Issues with Digital Evidence," plus a Supreme Court update on issues affecting prosecutors, and discussions of an innovative victim witness service and proposed changes in the ABA Model Rules.
Unveiling of Portrait of the Late William C. O'Malley
 From the emotional standpoint, the highlight of the Board of Directors meeting was the unveiling of the portrait of the late William C. O'Malley, former NDAA president (1993-94) and DA of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, who died in 1995. Commissioned by the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association for presentation to NDAA, the portrait will hang in a model courtroom in the NDAA wing of the National Advocacy Center at Columbia, South Carolina. The courtroom will be renamed the William C. O'Malley Courtroom.
The NDAA board was joined by members of O'Malley's family, including his widow, Amy, and their two sons, William and Ryan, Massachusetts DAs and O'Malley's colleagues, assistants, staff members and friends. Amy O'Malley recalled that her husband was "a prosecutor through and through. He loved his job and I can't think of anything else he would want to do." Philip A. Rollins, DA of Cape Cod and Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard islands, said of O'Malley, his long-time close friend, "Billy was our champion, the friend and counselor of all prosecutors." Other speakers recalled how O'Malley was ahead of his time in promoting the use of technology by prosecutors and how he freely expended his time to provide fellow prosecutors with technical advice on computerization of their offices.
New Officers and State Directors
Action at the board meeting included the election of Dan M. Alsobrooks, district attorney general of Tennessee's 23rd Judicial District, as president-elect.  The directors also elected three new vice presidents: Jerry M. Blair, Florida; James P. Fox, California, and Robert F.Horan, Jr., Virginia. Donald V Myers, South Carolina, was elected secretary; David L. Landefeld of Ohio was elected assistant secretary; John M. Bailey, Connecticut, was elected treasurer, and Joseph I. Cassilly, Maryland, was elected assistant treasurer.
Elected directors-at-large were Mark R. DeCaria, Utah; Jaime Esparza, Texas; Ray Larson, Kentucky; John P. Sarcone, Iowa, and Frank R. Weathersbee, Maryland.
Five new board members were officially seated at the board meeting. They were Barry Krischer of West Palm Beach as Florida state director; Ronnie Harper of Natchez as Mississippi state director; Robert L. Sand of White River Junction as state director for Vermont; Suzanne McClain-Atwood, representing the National Association of Prosecutor Coordinators (NAPC); Peg Dorer, Raleigh, North Carolina, president of NAPC, and a new associate director, Kim Parker, chief deputy district attorney of Wichita, Kansas.
Resolutions Passed by NDAA Board
The board adopted two resolutions. One resolution endorses the "Safe Haven" programs "aimed at avoiding the abandonment, abuse or murder of unwanted newborns and saving of such children" and encourages local prosecutors to participate in the development and establishment of such programs. The other resolution adopts the "Policy Positions on DNA Technology," which deal with DNA testing "as a means of identifying and apprehending criminals and proving the guilt or innocence of suspects and defendants."
Next Summer Conference
The 2002 NDAA Summer Conference will take place at the Radisson Hotel in Bismarck, North Dakota July 14-17.
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