Upstate New York Law Enforcement, Advocate, and Probation/Parole Partnership Leads to Greater Offender Accountability

The Utica Police Department saw an increase of domestic violence incident reports of 25% between 1997 and 2000.   Although 55% of the reported incidents were arrestable offenses, only 31% of these incidents resulted in arrest, mainly because many of the victims in these cases declined to support charges against the abuser. 

The department, in collaboration with the YWCA of the Mohawk Valley, determined that they should work to increase awareness about domestic violence and accessibility to supportive services, and applied for a STOP subgrant to do this.  The department was awarded a subgrant, and used it to support a full-time victim service advocate from the YWCA and a designated domestic violence officer.  The officer began by reviewing every domestic violence incident report.  The advocate made contact with each victim to offer services and to see if there is anything that she needs.  In some cases, the advocate provides transportation to the survivor to allow her to remove her personal belongings from the residence that she shared with the abuser. 

The program was successful in that more arrests were being made.  However, rather than decreasing, the number of domestic violence reports increased.  Additionally, the team noted that many of these reports represent repeated offenses by abusers. 

After receiving additional funding through an OVW Arrest Grant, the department doubled the size of the team by adding an additional officer and advocate.  The department created a database that linked the police department with the probation department and the courts.  Each agency regularly updated the database with information about arrests, warrants, probation and parole conditions, and orders of protection.  The information in the database allows law enforcement to learn additional information about offenders at the scene of a domestic violence incident.  For example, officers can view and print orders of protection and make arrests for violations.  While the department did not receive a subsequent Arrest grant and the team has been reduced again to one officer and one advocate, the team has continued to work to increase victim safety and offender accountability as before. 

Law enforcement can also access probation and parole information about suspects through the database.  Law enforcement can then report a domestic violence incident to probation or parole.  Probation/parole officers are then able to request warrants due to law enforcement contact, which is prohibited by all probationers’ and parolees’ conditions of release.  The designated police officer frequently testifies at probation and parole hearings, which leads to re-incarceration of offenders. 

The domestic violence officer also contacts the District Attorney when a defendant has a history of perpetrating domestic violence.  This has resulted in stiffer sentences.  The advocate also looks for a pattern of abuse against particular victims and offers services to them such as assistance applying for an order of protection, shelter, and counseling. 

As a result of these efforts, the police department has seen an increase in domestic violence offender arrests and re-incarcerations of probationers/parolees.