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Name: Eriks Berzins
Job Title: Deputy District Attorney – III, Domestic Violence Unit
How long have you worked in the DA’s Office: Law Clerk (2012), DDA since 2013
If someone doesn’t know you and asks what you do for work on a day to day basis, you’d describe it by saying the following: I prosecute criminal cases on behalf of the District Attorney, the people of Clackamas County, and the State of Oregon, balancing all of the many interests involved in hoping to achieve a just result for victims and providing confidence in our system to the public. What that means is that there is rarely a typical “day to day” workload.
How your work makes county residents safer: I look at the particular facts and circumstances of each case that I handle in trying to figure out what will most likely minimize the risk of recidivism, as there is no one uniform, consistent approach in minimizing that risk. I also work directly with victims and those in difficult circumstances to provide them with confidence that they can reach out to law enforcement, to victims’ services organizations, and to us.
The accomplishment by you that you’re most proud of since working in the DA’s Office: Becoming a credible and reliable resource for younger prosecutors in my office and the law enforcement officers with whom I work.
Something you wish more people knew about the Clackamas County DA’s Office: Firstly, just how much consideration goes into the decisions we make, and the incredibly wide range of opinions and perspectives among DDAs that we rely on in making them. Secondly, how much work our office (in conjunction with other agencies) does to provide victims with resources and support.
Can you tell us something about yourself most people wouldn’t know: Originally I had planned for a career in the Foreign Service, having worked at the United Nations in New York, as well as in the Office of the President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. My early desire to get some litigation experience at a prosecutor’s office turned into something much greater, and now I’m satisfied in keeping up with international politics from a distance.