Cumberland County prosecutor outlines grants, purchase of 3-D scanner and plans to extend Child Advocacy Center lease

Jennifer Webb McCray, Cumberland County prosecutor, told the Board of Commissioners the prosecutor’s office is marking National Crime Victims Rights Week and highlighted recent grants and equipment purchases supporting victim services and investigations.

McCray said the office is receiving $46,087 reimbursed from a CNCS-type grant to fund two interview rooms; three additional interview rooms were paid for from the prosecutor’s forfeiture account. The office is also purchasing a Faro three-dimensional scanner for crime-scene and accident-scene scanning at a cost of $62,279, which McCray said will be paid from the forfeiture account. She said the office is extending its lease at the Child Advocacy Center (CAC), 1416 East Commerce Street, for one year and will pay that extension from grant or forfeiture funding at no direct cost to the county.

On the record, McCray described the CAC’s services: the facility hosts child interviews led by specially trained officers, includes two interview rooms and a mock courtroom used to prepare child witnesses. McCray also said the office regularly hosts student interns from local colleges and universities and has about four interns each semester.

Several resolutions on the meeting’s consent agenda correspond to the prosecutor’s items: Resolution 15931 authorizes a non-fair-and-open contract for a 3-D scanner with accessories for the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office; Resolution 15916 authorizes reimbursement to the prosecutor’s forfeiture trust account for purchase and installation of interview-room camera systems at the Child Advocacy Center; Resolution 15917 exercises a contract renewal for grant-writing consultant services (noted on the consent list) and other grant-related resolutions appeared on the consent agenda.

McCray said the office had sought a building purchase previously and had spent roughly five years renting space; she said all 21 counties in the state have a child advocacy center and she would prefer a permanent facility but could not identify a purchasable building. She said earlier grant awards exceeded $200,000 at one point, and that she has worked to use forfeiture funds to avoid county general-fund impacts while maintaining investigative capability.

Commissioners asked questions about the 3-D scanner and whether local colleges could be involved; McCray explained the scanner is a fixed-location device used to capture frame-referenced measurements for investigations and said the office regularly offers internships to local students. The board approved the consent agenda items that included the scanner and related reimbursements.

McCray encouraged community members to visit the CAC and described it as a space designed to reduce trauma for child victims; she said the facility is located in a former public defender building and is used to shield children from courtroom exposure.

The board approved the consent agenda containing the related grant and equipment resolutions by roll call.