A drop in home violence; Police are taking preventive stance
The Boston Globe West, June 29, 2008
By Calvin Hennick, Globe Correspondent
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/06/29/a_drop_in_home_violence?mode=PF

Holliston police say new procedures to deal with cases of domestic violence may be showing signs of success.

Seeking to prevent repeat offenses and to aid prosecutors, Police Chief Thomas Lambert changed department policy late last year to require thorough investigations of all domestic-violence cases - including the interrogations of suspects - and follow-up visits and phone calls by a designated domestic-violence police officer.

Previously, Lambert said, police relied primarily on victim and witness statements, rather than interviews with suspects. Follow-ups, which were rarely done before, he said, are meant to prevent repeated violations. "That's our goal, to minimize the number of times, to make sure we're not going back to houses over and over again," he said.

"When the emotions have calmed down, it's a better opportunity for an officer to come in and get some perspective."

While the chief said that there aren't enough figures to say for certain what the new policy's effect has been, "the numbers are going in the right direction."

Lambert's department has seen 17 domestic violence cases this year, compared with 25 cases during the same period last year, and 21 during the same period in 2006.

The new policy "just sends a real clear message that we're doing everything we can to keep people safe," Lambert said. "It sends a good message not just to the victim, but also to the offender, that they never know when we're going to show up."

Officer Ciara Ryan, who is focusing on domestic violence cases, said that before the new policy was enacted, police would lose touch with victims. "Basically, we have more of an understanding of the case - where did it go after the initial arrest," she said.

Holliston officers have been trained to obtain good contact information from suspects and victims, usually a cellphone number, she said. Ryan waits several days before contacting victims, asking them whether they feel safe and whether there is anything new she should know about the situation, and gives the victims her contact information.

"Even if they're not willing to talk directly after a domestic incident, sometimes they'll call me three months down the road," Ryan said. Some victims call for advice on how to look for housing or for technical matters, such as how to transfer a restraining order to another state, she said.

Ryan also refers the victims to social service agencies. "Unfortunately, if they grew up in that sort of environment, it feels comfortable to them, and they might seek it out as an adult," she said. "At some point, they can choose to break out of the cycle with the help of agencies that we would refer them to."

Ryan also watches for trends in disturbance calls that don't lead to arrests.
"If I see we've gone to the same house three times this month, then I might intervene so it doesn't escalate to the level that someone is getting arrested," she said.

Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. launched a domestic-violence unit for his office last year. The crime warrants particular attention because of its prevalence and complexity.

Leone said preventing situations from escalating is a critically important step, noting that domestic-violence homicides in Massachusetts have shot up in recent years, from 15 in 2005 to 42 last year.

"You're not just putting people in a situation which might get worse and worse," if police follow up on cases, Leone said in an interview.