Patrick Vanier Email & Phone Number

I recently retired as an Attorney IV Deputy District Attorney with the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office (DAO) and was assigned as the lead prosecutor for the Santa Clara County Human Exploitation and Trafficking Taskforce. During my twenty-five-year career as a prosecutor, I worked for the first seven years in Contra Costa County before accepting a lateral position at Santa Clara County. I have worked a diverse array of cases and assignments in both offices prosecuting and conducting jury trials on homicide, sexual assault, human trafficking, major narcotics, gangs and other serious and violent felony crimes. For six years I served as the Supervising Deputy District Attorney for the Narcotics/Major Narcotics Prosecution Team. In that capacity I managed a unit of seventeen attorneys, two paralegals, and five support staff members. For a substantial portion of my career, I partnered with law enforcement agencies investigating and prosecuting major narcotics cases, with a particular emphasis on drug cartels, organized crime, and gangs. In the field of wiretap and electronic surveillance, I provide consultation with other DA offices statewide and teach legal/best practices for wiretap investigations for DOJ Advance Training Center POST Certification for Wiretaps, California District Attorneys Association, California Narcotic Officers Association, Northern California HIDTA, and Institute of Criminal Investigations – South Bay Regional Training Consortium, among others. As the lead prosecutor for DAO Human Exploitation and Trafficking Taskforce, I have worked with police agencies to develop both a countywide law enforcement protocol and blueprint for investigating sex and labor trafficking crimes. This included working with county stakeholders to develop and promote an emergency response system for advocates and social workers to respond and assist with the recovery of adult and juvenile survivors. In addition, I developed applications for using wiretaps and other proactive investigative techniques for human trafficking investigations. These approaches have led to successful prosecutions of prolific traffickers, as well as organized crime groups involved in the trafficking of persons.I am proud to be recognized by the California Narcotics Officers Association in 2015 as the State of California Prosecutor of the Year, the San Jose Police George W. Kennedy Excellence in Prosecution Award recipient for 2017, Modern Day Abolitionist Award from the San Francisco Collaborative Against Human Trafficking in January 2024, and 2024 Unsung Hero Award.