ORLANDO, Fla. – Monique Worrell, the state attorney for Orange and Osceola counties, implemented a new policy this week that prohibits law enforcement agencies from forwarding certain criminal cases to her office that lack enough admissible evidence to justify an arrest.
Worrell said the new policy was prompted by law enforcement agencies sending thousands of “non-arrest” cases to her office that were not viable for prosecution due to an absence of independent witnesses, photos and videos of the crime, or identified victims.
Before forwarding most cases to the state attorney’s office for prosecution, law enforcement officers typically gather enough evidence to make an arrest immediately or to request an arrest warrant from a judge. In certain cases, law enforcement can issue a defendant an order to appear in court in lieu of arrest…