what is the difference between district attorney and police detective

by Ana Crooks Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago 4 min read

In CA, District Attorney Investigators are peace officers (not attorneys), that conduct investigations initiated by the DA's office (ie: political corruption) or follow-ups on cases that have already been filed by police agencies but don't have one of their investigators available afterword.

Full Answer

What is the difference between a prosecutor and an assistant district attorney?

Feb 06, 2003 · The narrator of the NBC crime drama Law & Order has it right every Wednesday evening when he says, In the criminal justice system the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups-the police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders. Now these two separate yet equally important groups are virtually at …

What is the role of the district attorney in a case?

A lot of people get confused when it comes to defining and figuring out the difference between a City Attorney and a District Attorney.The District Attorney is the head prosecuting officer that handles the filing of most felony cases in Los Angeles County.

Is being a district attorney investigator a bad job?

Jan 22, 2010 · In CA, District Attorney Investigators are peace officers (not attorneys), that conduct investigations initiated by the DA's office (ie: …

Is a district attorney a peace officer?

Dec 05, 2014 · As Americans, we must work to eliminate the inherent bias in our judicial system in the relationship between police officers and district attorneys. Protesters, demanding justice for …

What is a district attorney?

In the United States, a district attorney ( DA ), state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a local government area, typically a county. The exact name and scope of the office varies by state.

What is an assistant district attorney?

The assistant district attorney (assistant DA, ADA) (or state prosecutor or assistant state's attorney) is a law enforcement official who represents the state government on behalf of the district attorney in investigating and prosecuting individuals alleged to have committed a crime. In carrying out their duties to enforce state and local laws, ...

What is a DA?

What is the role of a prosecutor?

In carrying out their duties, prosecutors have the authority to investigate persons, grant immunity to witnesses and accused criminals, and plea bargain with defendants. A district attorney leads a staff of prosecutors, who are most commonly known as deputy district attorneys (DDAs).

What does a county attorney do?

For example, in Arizona, Missouri, Montana, and Minnesota a county attorney represents the county and state within their county, prosecutes all felonies occurring within the county, and prosecutes misdemeanors occurring within unincorporated areas of the county.

Is the salary of an ADA lower than the salary of an elected DA?

The salary of an ADA will be lower than the elected DA. The non-monetary benefits of the job induce many to work as an ADA; these include the opportunity to amass trial experience, perform a public service, and network professionally.

Where is the District Attorney's office in Los Angeles?

There’s one main District Attorney’s office which is in downtown Los Angeles actually in the criminal court building at 210 West Temple. The City Attorney’s office has their own offices as well. They’re in most of the courthouses. There are a few examples of courthouses where there’s only District Attorneys and they prosecute both felonies ...

Can a wobbler be a misdemeanor?

For example, someone could be arrested for a crime and be booked for a felony and the crime could be a wobbler – meaning it could be filed as a misdemeanor or felony, so the District Attorney’s office could reject the case, decide not to file it, but then send it to the City Attorney and say, this is a case you should file.

Do city and district attorneys work together?

Sometimes they have to work together. Sometimes the City Attorneys and District Attorneys have to deal with a case where both a felony and a misdemeanor are filed. Sometimes somebody will be on misdemeanor probation and commit a felony, and then the City Attorney comes in and give their position on how they’re going to deal with their probation violation, for example, so it has to be coordinated between the defense attorney and also the District Attorney. So, a lot of times the City Attorney and District Attorney will work side-by-side on certain cases in certain situations.

What is a district attorney investigator?

District Attorney investigators are police officers who investigate frauds, official corruption, organized crime, and other criminal matters for the Investigation and Trial Divisions. Among the areas of responsibility are conducting in-house lineups; maintaining a NYSPIN Intelligence Computer Terminal for records checks; maintaining all electronic surveillance orders, recording and videotapes; and handling office security.

What is a DA investigator?

In CA, District Attorney Investigators are peace officers (not attorneys), that conduct investigations initiated by the DA's office (ie: political corruption) or follow-ups on cases that have already been filed by police agencies but don't have one of their investigators available afterword. In Los Angeles County, most of the DA investigators have transferred to that agency from the Sheriff's department or have retired from other local police agencies.

What are the duties of a criminal investigator?

In law enforcement, criminal investigators and detectives perform similar duties, such as overseeing the crime scene, gathering evidence and witnesses, and coordinating efforts.

Is a private investigator the same as a detective?

Are Investigators the Same as Detectives? A private investigator and private detective are the same thing, and a criminal investigator is similar to a criminal detective. In the case of the former, their duties are often the same, and it is simply a person’s choice as to whether they call themselves a private detective or investigator.

Why do prosecutors have discretion?

The discretion they have to prosecute cases or reject them gives them more control over the fate of those accused of a crime than a judge or jury.” 2. Two recent studies have attempted to shed some light on how prosecutors make case decisions.

Where is the Black Box?

Miller and Ronald F. Wright, is entitled “The Black Box” and is based primarily on data collected from New Orleans, Louisiana, one of the only jurisdictions to keep extensive records on internal prosecutorial decision making. 3. At the risk of simplifying an otherwise complex study, ...

Overview

In the United States, a district attorney (DA), state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a local government area, typically a countyor a group of counties. The exact name and scope of the office varies by state. Alternative titles for the office include coun…

History

This term for a prosecutor originates with the traditional use of the term "district" for multi-county prosecutorial jurisdictions in several U.S. states. For example, New York appointed prosecutors to multi-county districts prior to 1813. Even after those states broke up such districts and started appointing or electing prosecutors for individual counties, they continued to use the title "district attorney" for the most senior prosecutor in a county rather than switch to "county attorney".

Role

The principal duties of the district attorney are usually mandated by law and include representing the State in all criminal trials for crimes which occurred in the district attorney's geographical jurisdiction. The geographical jurisdiction of a district attorney may be delineated by the boundaries of a county, judicial circuit, or judicial district.
Their duties generally include charging crimes through informationsand/or grand jury indictment…

Departments

The district attorney usually divides their services into several departments that handle different areas of criminal law. Each department is staffed by several duly appointed and sworn ASAs. The departments of a large district attorney's office may include but are not limited to: felony, misdemeanor, domestic violence, traffic, juvenile, charging (or case filing), drug prosecution, forfeitures, civil affairs such as eminent domain, child advocacy, child support, victim assistance…

Nomenclature

The name of the role of local prosecutor may vary by state or jurisdiction based on whether they serve a county or a multi-county district, the responsibility to represent the state or county in addition to prosecution, or local historical customs.
District attorney and assistant district attorney are the most common titles for state prosecutors, and are used by jurisdictions within the United States including California, Delaware, Georgia, Mas…

Assistant district attorney

Appeals

Depending on state law, appeals are moved to appellate courts (also called appeals courts, courts of appeals, superior courts, or supreme courts in some states). During the appeals process district attorneys, in many cases, hands all relative prosecutorial materials to a state appellate prosecutor who in turn will represent the state in appellate courts with the advice and consent of the district attorney.

District attorney investigators

Some district attorneys maintain their own law enforcement arm whose members are sworn peace officers. Depending on the jurisdiction, they are referred to as district attorney investigators or county detectives.