Maple Grove City Prosecutor Works to Curb Domestic Violence
Andrew Draper is three years into his job as city prosecutor for the City of Maple Grove.
“The county attorney’s office handles all felonies. Cities are responsible for handling all gross misdemeanors, misdemeanors, and then other civil infractions that either fall under their municipal codes or are just general traffic tickets,” Draper explained. “So I handle anything from traffic tickets all the way up to driving while intoxicated, domestic assaults, a lot of thefts. So, anything that does not go to the county attorney’s office.”
When it comes to domestic violence, specifically, Draper said he’s drilled down on three key questions about how the city can help those victimized by someone in their home or family.
“First, where we were with services that were being offered, and not so much as what we were offering, but it was basically what we were offering versus what was available out there?” Draper said. “Also, (I) evaluated how we were prosecuting these cases, and then, lastly, what else could be doing to assist survivors of domestic violence–how to kind of think outside the box and make sure we were serving them the best way we can.”
That means working with government and non-profit resources–like Maria’s Voice and others–to find solutions, programs, and other ways to help survivors of domestic abuse.
“In terms of the crimes we handle, DWIs and domestic violence are going to be the two primary ones that most significantly impact public safety,” said Draper. “So, having victims being able to have those services available to them and us being able to connect them to those services not only protects the victim and the survivor of those domestic abuse cases and gives them options and the ability to if they need to get out of that situation, but also in the grander scheme, protects the community from other violent behaviors from those offenders.”
