Major Robby Rummage, Lexington Police Department Lieutenant Melissa Price-Carter, Lexington Police Department Meredith Martin, MDiv, MSW, LCSWA, Director of Programs, Family Services of Davidson County, Inc.
History of the Offender-Focused Domestic Violence Initiative How it works in Lexington, NC Outcomes of Initiative How to get started in your community
Major Robby Rummage Lexington Police Department
Lexington was selected as the replication site for High Point Police Department’s Offender Focused Domestic Violence Initiative, which is based on focused deterrence theory ◦ Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Office funded UNCG to evaluate both sites Lexington had several existing advantages for replication in place prior to implementing the strategy ◦ Ongoing PSN/focused deterrence strategy in place since 2010 ◦ Understanding of the dynamic of DV in relationships among officers and command staff; reinforced through training ◦ Strategies in place to deal with DV situations and investigations ◦ Strong commitment from the Chief and buy-in from other partners (i.e., District Attorney’s Office, probation, victim service providers)
A certain number of domestic violence offenders are known to law enforcement Focuses on changing offender behavior; a shift from traditional focus on the victim ◦ Law enforcement “owns the problem of domestic violence” Adaptation of an evidence-based approach to dealing with criminal behavior ◦ Focused deterrence or “pulling levers” Puts offenders on notice that their behavior will no longer be tolerated Strips offenders’ anonymity Provides certain, swift, and severe consequences for continued DV through any means or levers that exist Offenders make a rational choice as to whether to continue violent behavior based on the information they receive Takes advantage of all potential contacts with DV offenders even those at lower levels
Protect most vulnerable victims from most dangerous abusers Take burden of addressing abusers from victims and move it to state/police Focus deterrence, community standards, and outreach and support on most dangerous abusers Avoid putting victims at additional risk Reduce calls for service for violent crimes related to DV
Lieutenant Melissa Price-Carter Lexington Police Department
D List Offenders A List Identified & C List Evaluated B List
(Commit prohibited behavior or new charge moves up a level) D List LPD has not yet started B-list notifications No previous charges for DV C List 1 st charge for DV related B List Responding officer can identify 2 nd charge of DV related offense an aggressor but no arrest can A List be made offense 3 rd or more DV charges Officer believes the potential or Offender has violent record exists for violence including DV Violation of prohibited Validated intimate partner behavior for which offender Violation of 50B protective relationship received notice as C list order offender (violating pretrial Used weapon in DV conditions, contacting victim, etc.) Convicted felon D List Receives letter from Police C List putting him on official notice Face-to-face deterrent B List and their name is added to message from Violent Crime Law enforcement and A List the watch list Detective community message face-to- At time of arrest or face indictment Delivered by a trained patrol Often while offender is still in officer during a follow up visit jail and just before going Offenders called to a within 48 hours of the call before judge for bond hearing notification perhaps quarterly or more frequent Graphic Source: Chief Marty Sumner, High Point Police Department
Ident ntifi ifica cation of gaps Agency cy updat ates/ s/ new inform rmat atio ion Proble lem Identific entificat atio ion Informa formatio ion Inpu put Courts Magistrate Specific cific victim im/ offe fende nder needs ds DSS/CPS Report rt back to team on LPD outcomes s of V/O Victim/ follo low w through Offender DA Probation Ongoing ng and System impro roved ed adapt aptat atio ions communica icatio ion n FSDC among part rtners rs Act ction on Follow ow- Planning nning Through ugh Innovat ative ve solutio ions
Davidson County Judges Lexington City Schools District Attorney’s Office Thomasville City Schools Davidson County Clerk’s Office Davidson County Schools Davidson County Social Services Davidson County Magistrates Davidson County Health Goodwill Career Connections Department Positive Wellness Alliance Davidson County Sheriff’s Office And more! We are adding g new w Probation and Parole partners ners every y week! Lexington Police Department Thomasville Police Department Denton Police Department Legal Aid of North Carolina Family Services of Davidson County, Inc. Cardinal Innovations Healthcare Daymark Recovery Services
Lieutenant Melissa Price-Carter Lexington Police Department
Reci cidi divi vism Rates for Notifi fied Offend nders in High h Point t & Lexin ington gton ed after r 19% 19% 20% ended 18% ers who reoffend 16% 16% 15% 15% 16% 14% 14% 14% 14% 14% 14% 14% 12% 12% 11% 11% ication ation enders 12% HP: 6-months d offend HP: 1 year ific 10% notif LPD: Jul 2014-May 2015 ied 8% ifie e of notif 6% 4% tage Percemtag 2% 0% 0% 0% B-List C-List D-List
“Typically , the rate of “Depending on how re-offense by reabuse is measured, over what period of time…a hard perpetrators of domestic core of approximately 1/3 violence is 30 to 40%, of abusers will reabuse in irrespective of the type the short run, and more will of intervention used…” reabuse in the long run.” ~60% who reoffend, do • so within 6 months. • “…38.4 percent of abusers were arrested for a new domestic Stover, C. S. (2005), Volume 20 violence offense within two “Studies have suggested years…” that recidivism rates in • “Studies…documented domestic violence cases are reabuse …ranging from 26 to 41 high…estimating 40% -80% or more of repeat violence percent within five to 30 months. (Garner, Fagan, & Maxwell, 1995; Shepard, 1992 ).” https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/225722.pdf
Nationally, 48.1% of DV incidents result in victim injury Perce centag ntage of Arrests ts Resul ulti ting ng in Victim im Injur ury (NCVS) 50.0% 44.0% 40.0% 37.0% 40.0% 36.4% 35.7% 35.7% 33.3% 31.8% 30.0% 30.0% 21.1% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% Aug 2014 Sep 2014 Oct 2014 Nov 2014 Dec 2014 Jan 2015 Feb 2015 Mar 2015 Apr 2015 May 2015
Example of an offender arrested for assault on female Monitoring jail calls ◦ Contempt of court for every jail call made to victim violating court order of no- contact; offender has to serve 5 days for every jail call X 15 calls before facing his assault charge Probation levers ◦ Offender on probation for a previous assault so probation arrested him for violation and offender has to serve 80 days prior to facing his assault charge Prosecutorial scrutiny ◦ After viewing assault on store surveillance footage, district attorney indicted offender for kidnapping in addition to the assault charge Certain, predictable consequences through partner buy-in ◦ Nearly every guilty defendant gets 18 months of supervised probation which includes abuser treatment program and conditions not to threaten, harass, or assault the victim + any other conditions such as Alco-Sensor monitoring
Increased scrutiny has led many offenders to plead guilty or take their jail time to get away from the scrutiny LPD’s presence at first appearances has led to high bonds and other conditions for DVIP offenses Pretrial no-contact orders being strictly enforced ◦ Jail calls and mail monitored; one offender arrested for sitting beside victim in courtroom District Attorney is filing for offenders to come back to court to answer to judge why new DV calls are incoming for offenders who have conditions not to assault, threaten, or harass their victim Strategy has assisted victims through the court process ◦ Assistance with 50B protective orders ◦ Getting victims to court through subpoenas or providing transportation Other agencies are interested in the strategy and come to court to see outcomes or have reached out directly to LPD
LPD has started providing Lethality Assessment Protocol (LAP) screenings during intimate partner domestic violence responses ◦ Identifies high risk victims and puts them in immediate contact with service providers 4 TIMES LPD DOES LAP (INTIMATE PARTNER CALLS OR RELATIONSHIP ONLY; LPD does not do LAP on every single DVIP call) ◦ An arrest for assault or believe an assault happened (this example would be giving the victim a ride to take out a warrant; we would do LAP on this victim) ◦ Officer believes something happened OR sense the potential for danger is high (officers thinks if they leave something is going to take place) ◦ Repeat calls for service (locations-same victim-offender) ◦ Officer simply feels it in their gut that they should do one Since March 2015, LPD has conducted 124 LAP screenings ◦ Connected 59 victims (nearly 50% of all victims and nearly ALL high danger victims) with counselors
Meredith Martin, MDiv, MSW, LCSWA Family Services of Davidson County, Inc.
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