San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee is suspending Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi from his post, the first step toward removing him from office permanently for official...
Read full entry »San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee may ask Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi to take a leave of absence while fighting misdemeanor charges stemming from an alleged domestic...
Read full entry »San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi's wife said in a videotaped account of his alleged New Year's Eve attack against her that he had manhandled her on an earlier occasion last year, and that the former city supervisor had warned her he could gain custody of their young son because he was "very powerful," say court documents reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. Mirkarimi, 50, is awaiting arraignment Thursday on misdemeanor charges of domestic violence battery, child endangerment, and dissuading a witness, stemming from an incident that began after the couple left their home for a New Year's Eve meal. Mirkarimi has denied the allegations.
A key piece of evidence is a Jan. 1 videotape taken of Mirkarimi's wife, Eliana Lopez, by a neighbor, Ivory Madison. On it, Lopez is crying and points to a bruise on her right bicep where she said Mirkarimi grabbed her during the confrontation the day before, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. "This happened yesterday," Lopez says on the video. "Two times in 2011, and this is the second time this is happening. Mirkarimi's defense attorney, Robert Waggener, said he was aware of the accusation of a prior incident in March 2011 involving the couple. "I know that issue is out there," he said, "but there's no domestic violence."
Read full entry »At least 16 Milwaukee police officers have been disciplined after internal investigators concluded they had committed acts of domestic violence, say internal affairs records obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Department leaders don't follow national standards on how to handle accusations of domestic violence against officers. Prosecutors often charge them with lesser crimes - or no crimes. As a result, officers who abuse their spouses or romantic partners are allowed to keep their jobs, carry loaded weapons, and respond when battered women call for help.
Police agencies that tolerate abusive officers endanger victims, erode the community's trust, and make themselves vulnerable to lawsuits, said Judy Munaker, who spent five years training cops on officer-related domestic violence through the state Office of Justice Assistance. "They see it as protecting their own, but it's corruption," she said. "They need to stop protecting their own and start protecting victims." Last year the wife of a high-ranking commander in the division that investigates officer misconduct called 911 in fear of her husband. No one wrote up a report. Just three Milwaukee officers disciplined for abusing spouses or romantic partners ended up with criminal records. None of those convictions was for a felony or misdemeanor domestic violence, which would have ended their careers by stripping them of the right to carry guns under federal law.
Read full entry »Domestic-violence homicides in Orlando have doubled in the first eight months of this year compared with all of last year, but a new program being unveiled today hopes to change that trend, says the Orlando Sentinel. Mayor Buddy Dyer and police chief Paul Rooney will announce a partnership with Harbor House of Central Florida to launch Project Courage 2, which will focus on an Orlando neighborhood for outreach and education about what to do and whom to call for domestic-violence issues.
The first Project Courage began last year. Domestic-violence advocates saturated a neighborhood and are now seeing their work pay off, said Carol Wick, CEO of Harbor House, the county's lone domestic-violence shelter. Officials will unveil maps created by University of Central Florida that compile data from law-enforcement agencies, Harbor House, and the state Department of Children and Families. The maps, which are created every three years, show — by ZIP code — family violence where a child is threatened, confirmed domestic-violence incidents, and where Harbor House has provided outreach services. Researchers found that in 2010, nearly a quarter of all domestic-violence-related calls for service were dispatched to three ZIP codes.
Read full entry »The Providence Journal describes a case that raises questions about medical privacy laws. The bruises, the cuts, the teeth knocked out of her mouth...
Read full entry »In 2009, Nashville police were more likely to drop domestic violence cases than they were to make an arrest. No longer, The Tennessean reports. Police made more domestic violence arrests and dropped far fewer cases without arrest in 2010 compared with prior years, ending a four-year period in which cases were shelved because police said victims would not cooperate.
A Tennessean investigation last year found that the department had gone from dropping around 200 such cases a year in 2005 to almost 5,500 such cases in 2009, blaming victims’ lack of cooperation for not arresting a domestic violence suspect. A sampling of those cases showed that investigations often ended when a victim didn’t return a single phone call. A handful of victims insisted they did want to prosecute, in spite of police reports stating otherwise. Police said they had beefed up efforts to reach out to victims who may be difficult to reach, as opposed to clearing a case and moving on when a victim simply doesn’t call back.
Read full entry »An investigation into the fatal shooting of a rookie Arlington, Tx., police officer has led to the firing of a dispatcher, the resignation of a 911 call taker, and a temporary change in how police officers will respond to domestic assault calls, reports the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. While authorities say the errors made by the dispatcher and call taker did not contribute to officer Jillian Michelle Smith's death -- reporting that "there was nothing officers or dispatchers could have done to change the tragic outcome of this incident" -- they say communication failures and policy violations at the 911 Dispatch Center jeopardized other officers' lives.
The 24-year-old officer was shot in the head on Dec. 28 by Barnes Samuel Nettles, a registered sex offender with a long criminal history, who also killed his ex-girlfriend Kimberly Deshay Carter before turning a gun on himself. Carter's 11-year-old daughter, who was at the apartment, escaped unharmed. Fire Chief Don Crowson found serious missteps that meant that police checking on Smith's welfare were not warned that she had been shot and that the gunman could still be at the apartment. Police Chief Theron Bowman said that for the time being, at least two police officers will respond to all domestic assault calls, even ones where the assailant has reportedly left the scene. Previously the policy was to dispatch one officer to low-priority calls, but Bowman said the department would review its policies and procedures to "see what lessons there are to be learned."
New York City prosecutors are using domestic violence defendants' words against them in court, says the New York Times. Since last year, every prisoner telephone call...
Read full entry »David Johnson, one of New York Gov. David Paterson’s closest and longest-serving aides, was charged yesterday with misdemeanor assault and five other offenses, the latest chapter in a domestic violence case that entangled the administration and led the governor to abandon his candidacy for election, the New York Times reports. The FBI is investigating the unauthorized access by someone at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center of the medical records of Sherr-una Booker. Booker, who has accused Johnson of assault, went to that hospital after her confrontation with him on Oct. 31, 2009.
Booker accused Johnson, her former boyfriend, of grabbing her “on her neck with both hands,” and she said he “squeezed her neck, lifting her body off the floor.” She told authorities she had difficulty breathing and speaking during the fight at her apartment. She was then pushed against her dresser while Johnson ripped off her clothing, and she bruised her leg in the melee. She said Johnson pushed her and “grabbed numerous phones out of her hand” as she tried to call the police. “You’re not going anywhere. I’ll [expletive] kill you before I let you go anywhere,” she said Johnson told her.
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Read full entry »Victim advocates say the killing of Orlando newlywed Alissa Blanton outside her workplace shows why judges should not delay decisions on protective orders, reports the Orlando Sentinel. Mark Goedecke said he wished he had stopped Roger Troy, the 61-year-old businessman who would not leave his 23-year-old daughter alone. On Monday, a week after a judge denied Blanton an emergency protective order, Troy killed her in a parking lot near the University of Central Florida and then shot himself.
Judge Dean Moxley had scheduled a hearing on Blanton's plight for next week to get more information on Troy. Victim advocates would rather see judges deny a protective order than schedule a later hearing, which alerts the alleged abuser. "In these cases, an already terrified victim is left legally unprotected for 14 days while their alleged perpetrator [] is given not only a heads-up about their action to end the relationship, but time [] to continue the behavior that led to the victim seeking the injunction in the first place," said Carol Wick of Harbor House, a domestic-violence shelter. Harbor House wants judges either to grant or deny protective orders. If an order is granted, a notice is sent to the suspect, and the victim is legally protected. If an order is denied, the victim can modify the request and resubmit it without a suspect's knowledge.
Read full entry »One in five orders of protection obtained by Illinois domestic violence victims have not been served on the abuser, reports the Chicago Tribune. The disclosure has prompted calls for reforms by victims' advocates and the state's attorney general. Orders of protection, widely viewed as one of the most powerful tools to stop domestic violence, prohibit an abuser from contacting the victim. Violators can face court sanction; only 19 percent of the 27,868 active orders of protection have not been served, say Illinois State Police records.
Without enforceable legal protection, victims have suffered ongoing harassment and attacks, advocates said. "It's very frustrating," said Jacqueline Ferguson of the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence. "Victims who show up to court and go through all the effort to get an order of protection find out it is not enforceable. Abusers can still prey upon them." There are always going to be abusers who dodge being served, but the numbers also reflect systemic problems, experts say. County sheriffs have failed to serve abusers who are on parole or in prison, for example.
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What does the future hold in store for domestic violence? October, the National Domestic Violence Awareness Month reminds us to reflect on the changes that have been made and keep striving towards our goals. People want to see an end to the use of violence as a means to control women and children, as a public health epidemic, and as a violation of human rights. Yet, domestic violence continues to plague households and communities across the country.
One in four women experiences intimate partner violence in her lifetime, reports the National Center for Victims of Crime. Women ages 20 to 24 have the highest level of physical violence from an intimate partner. And, it turns out, it starts even younger. About 10% of students nationwide report being physically hurt by a boyfriend or girlfriend in the past 12 months, found the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Fortunately, experts have taken notice, and are taking steps towards controlling domestic violence. For one, we are paying more attention to teen dating violence. A 24-hour National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline was launched in 2007, with the help of sponsor Liz Claiborne, Inc. Research is underway to further our understanding of this field and prevention programs are starting to be implemented in schools.
Second, several areas are being investigated in domestic violence, but two issues stand out. One is coercive control. Coercive control is more than just physical violence, often counted by the number of assaults; it involves ongoing coercion, intimidation, isolation, and control. The emphasis is on violations against the person’s freedoms – what they can and can’t do. Another issue involves strangulation. According to the Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, “Strangulation has only recently been identified as one of the most lethal forms of domestic violence.” Strangulation can serve as a potent threat to a victim and is considered a precursor to homicide. Nonetheless, only about 26 states make strangulation a felony; others consider it a misdemeanor.
Lastly, other issues have gained national attention recently, such as domestic violence being used as a “pre-existing condition” in health insurance, the link between domestic violence and pet abuse and domestic violence victims losing their jobs or becoming homeless.
But there is a bright spot on the horizon: On October 1st of this year, President Obama nominated Susan B. Carbon as the Director of the Office of Violence Against Women. Carbon brings a wealth of experience from working in family court, on commissions, and as head of a council. With her knowledge of how battered women fare in family court, it is hoped changes occur that help victims retain custody of their children. Her appointment confirms the Administration’s effort towards helping survivors retain their jobs, health insurance, homes, pets and children. But most important, it provides the hope that the Federal Government will commit the funding and resources necessary to accomplish this huge, but vital, agenda.
Joan Dawson serves as a Secretary and Board Member of Guatemala Human Rights Commission and a Board Member of a domestic violence campaign. She's also active in the Battered Mothers Custody movement.
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