Sommer Woodward
Staff Reporter
Law enforcement and other related agencies are working to cut down domestic violence.
“There’s a lot of domestic violence in Mayes County,” said Assistant District Attorney Jessica Carriger.
A coordinated community response team formed during the last half of 2008 to address the issue.
The team is an effort between law enforcement, the district attorney’s office, victim’s advocates, probation and parole, child welfare and medical
personnel.
Carriger said there are many avenues where victims and children are brought through the justice system and the response team is “a network to help them.”
A federal Violence Against Women grant was secured recently, allowing the sheriff’s office to create a position for a domestic violence resource investigator.
Deputy Alan Davis with the Mayes County Sheriff’s Office volunteered for the position. His duties are to thoroughly investigate violence reports against women, whether domestic or not. Davis said he felt the position was a way to be more involved in helping the community than he would on a normal patrol shift.
Davis said the benefits of having an investigator whose sole job is to investigate reports of violence against women is to look deeper into the case. With the number of cases deputies and investigators deal with, Davis said sometimes going into every report in depth can be difficult. With the new position, which began Jan. 1, Davis can go into each case 100 percent.
He said victims can be referred to Safenet Services for their safety and assistance on a daily basis. He said women don’t have to be put off for days to begin getting help. Davis said if a victim comes into the sheriff’s office with bruising, he is available to take pictures immediately and get the evidence to the district attorney’s office.
“It’s good for the victim all the way around,” he said. “Their case is handled more timely and in depth than ever before.”
Working with the response team allows all the different agencies to come up with a better solution for fighting and preventing domestic violence, and protecting the victims.
“We’re able to work hand-in-hand to solve these crimes,” he said.
One way the team helps is by forming relationships with all the agencies who may deal with a domestic violence victim.
For example, Carriger explained the first offense for domestic assault and battery is a misdemeanor, but if the district attorney’s office can prove the victim was strangled and the aggressor intended to cause great bodily harm, the charge can be a felony.
The problem in the past was many times outside physical evidence of
choking often doesn’t exist. That’s where a good relationship with a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) comes in because the SANE nurse can examine the victim and look for other medical signs of choking. If found, the evidence can be used to change the misdemeanor to a felony charge.
Carriger said in domestic violence cases, the victim often doesn’t want to prosecute after filing the initial report. She said they may be ashamed of what happened or “they love this person.... They don’t want to be responsible for punishing the person they love.”
Since victims often don’t want to hold the person accountable, the response team works to train the people on the front lines so they can gather valid
evidence.
Carriger said the district attorney’s office looks at the facts and evidence in cases, including photos, witnesses and injuries, and decide whether to take the offender to trial.
The district attorney’s office, by law, can take a case to trial without the cooperation of the victim by putting on other types of evidence.
That’s why people like dispatchers are so essential to domestic violence cases. Dispatchers will receive training on what questions to ask in a domestic violence call.
The information recorded on the 911 call can be used in the criminal case, regardless of whether the victim testifies.
Carriger said the probation and parole officers volunteered to conduct pre-sentence investigations (PSI) for domestic violence cases. The information in the PSI can be used to let the judge look at the his-tory of the offender so they can determine the type of sentencing, counseling, jail time or both.
Another issue the team must consider is whether the victim is a stay-at-home mother. They must consider how she can support herself if the offender is thrown in jail.
“We can’t put them straight to jail the first time,” Carriger said. “They get a chance to do it the right way.”
The response team helps fast track the efforts of law enforcement and the justice system to hold offenders accountable for their actions. Offender accountability is one of two areas with which the response team deals. The other is victim safety.
Safenet Services helps victims of domestic
violence and sexual assault. They can help guide them through courtroom processes, offer counseling services, help with housing and clothing.
The effects of abuse on a victim can be life long.
Carriger said the
public’s attitude about women who stay with an abuser baffles her when choosing juries.
“We’ve got to educate the public about domestic violence,” she said, explaining the reaction that the woman is an “idiot” for going back needs to be eliminated.
Often times, Carriger said by the time a person ever raises a hand to the victim, they’ve beat the victim down emotionally and isolated them from their family and friends.
“We want them to get counseling and assessment to insure their
safety,” she said.
Carriger said since the response team formed, she’s had a big reduction in plea agreements, and has taken many cases to trial. She explained defendants often get the victim to come in and say she hit or assaulted him first, and that she loves him.
With the proper evidence compiled by response team members, the district attorney’s office can take the case to trial based on the facts and evidence presented.
“It doesn’t matter what the victim does,” said Carriger. “What matters is he broke the law and is accountable.”
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It's about time.
