Alyssa Donovan
Victim Advocate, Cambridge Police Department
Alyssa has committed her professional life to victim advocacy in the criminal justice field and has a passion for domestic and sexual violence intervention and prevention work. She began her career at the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office in 2010 as Victim Witness Advocate where she assisted victims, witnesses, and families of crime navigate the legal system to seek justice for themselves or loved ones. In 2014, Alyssa was promoted to role of Superior Court Victim Witness Advocate, where she served victims of more serious crimes including rape, domestic violence, and homicide.
In pursuit of her passion for domestic and sexual violence intervention and prevention work Alyssa began working at the Cambridge Police Department (CPD) in 2015. At the onset of her work Alyssa’s role was to provide direct services to domestic violence survivors. As the CPD began to implement a trauma-informed approach to investigatory practices Alyssa’s role expanded and her title changed. She is now the Cambridge Police Victim Advocate. In this role, her primary focus is to provides direct service and support to domestic and sexual violence survivors. She works with Cambridge Police Officers and Superiors in the analysis, education, and prevention efforts around domestic and sexual violence. Alyssa is also the Co-Coordinator of the High-Risk Domestic Violence Response Team and she is a founding member of the Cambridge Sexual Assault Response Team.
Since joining the CPD, Alyssa has collaborated with local community-based organizations and city departments to ensure comprehensive prevention and intervention efforts around domestic and sexual violence in Cambridge. She has been a primary force in the development and implementation of the innovative and unique Trauma Informed Law Enforcement Training. This training and subsequent changes to sexual assault investigations at the Cambridge Police Department have transformed the approach to supporting survivors of domestic and sexual violence.