A Review of Best Practices
Conducted
for
Haven House
Wayne County Sheriff’s Office
City of Wayne Police Department
Wayne County Attorney’s Office
March 2011
By
Rose Thelen
Gender Violence Institute
Praxis International Technical Assistance Partner
Development of this document was supported by Grant # 2004-WR-AX-0068
awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view expressed are those of the authors and do no t necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice
OVERVIEW
An effective coordinated community response (CCR) examines existing law enforcement, criminal justice and advocacy responses to identify gaps that impede the capacity of community agencies to protect victims and/or hold offenders accountable. Once identified, the CCR effort then replaces the gaps with enhanced policies, procedures and texts (intake forms, report formats, assessments, evaluations, checklists and other written materials), and training programs. After implementation, new practices are tracked, monitored, evaluated for their effectiveness, and when necessary, further refined to increase their effectiveness.
The best practices included in this document have been developed by advocates, law enforcement professionals, prosecutors and others involved in the domestic violence field across the country through the process outlined above. Not all best practice policies, procedures and protocols found herein can be applied across all departments, agencies, communities, and cultures. However, with modification to local conditions, where necessary, they serve as a convenient guide for communities seeking to capitalize on the work of others to meet the goals of intervening more effectively to domestic violence-related crimes.
This review was culled from a number of sources, including A Review of Best Practices by the Gender Violence Institute[1]; best practice checklists for law enforcement, prosecutors and the courts from Assessing Justice System Response to Violence Against Women: A Tool for Law Enforcement, Prosecution and the Courts to Use in Developing Effective Responses[2], developed as part of the Promising Practices Initiative of the STOP Violence Against Women Grants Technical Assistance Project [3]; and “Planning and
Conducting a Best-Practice Assessment of Community Response to Domestic Violence [4]
In order for justice system personnel and advocates to develop effective policies and interventions their work must be grounded in a shared understanding of violence against women:
o Violence against women is a serious crime, requiring the justice system and community's attention.
o No form of violence against women is acceptable behavior. Justice personnel must debunk the myths that overtly and covertly support violence against women, and replace them with facts about these crimes, the perpetrators and the victims.
o Victim safety and welfare, as well as the safety of her children and other family members, is the paramount goal of justice system intervention.
o Early intervention in violence against women cases, coupled with meaningful penalties and sanctions for offenders, can save lives and prevent further violence.
o Responding to battered, sexually assaulted and stalked women from traditionally under-served populations requires multi-cultural services and multi-lingual capacity. Jurisdictions must strive to understand the unique problems faced by these victims and work with them to identify solutions.
o Batterers, sex offenders and stalkers use violence to achieve and maintain control over their victims.
o Victims are not responsible for their perpetrator's violent and controlling acts, nor do they have the power to change the perpetrator's attitudes or behavior.
o Victims are in the best position to judge the danger the perpetrator poses to them and to make their own decisions about their safety. Practitioners have the responsibility to assist victims in this decision-making process by providing information about their options and available community resources. The justice system must recognize the high risk of danger battered women and their families face when the decision is made to leave an abusive relationship. In many instances, domestic violence victims stay in the abusive relationship. The victim must be supported in her decisions, whether or not she decides to participate in the justice system.[5]
BEST PRACTICES:
911 AND LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE, AND PROSECUTION CHARGING DECISIONS
Communities seeking to adopt and implement best practices for responding to domestic violence can expect that if implemented effectively, they will result in corresponding changes in the daily work routines of the practitioners under its jurisdiction. The extent to which this has occurred can be gauged by a review of the official account of the incident or the case file. For that reason, Praxis includes best practices for written policies and procedures as well as checklists for analyzing the reports and files that result from the responses of dispatchers, law enforcement and prosecutors to any domestic violence case.
Part 1. Excerpt from: “Planning and Conducting a Best-Practice Assessment of Community Response to Domestic Violence [6]
I. Policy Best Practices
A. Principles
o Adheres to an interagency approach and collective intervention goals.
o Builds attention to the context and severity of abuse.
o Recognizes that most domestic violence is a patterned crime requiring continuing engagement with victims and offenders.
o Seeks sure and swift consequences for continued abuse.
o Offers messages of help and accountability.
o Reduces unintended consequences and the disparity of impact on victims and offenders.
B. Procedures
o References applicable laws, definitions, and authority.
o Provides criteria and procedures for sorting cases into appropriate levels of response according to context and severity of abuse (i.e., different levels of response for different levels of dangerousness and risk).
o Guides practitioners in documenting actions and information about the case in ways that decrease reliance on memory and improve the thoroughness of case information.
o Accounts for how victims use violence in response to battering by an abuser.
o Recognizes and guards against increasing victim vulnerability to consequences and retaliation if they participate in confronting and holding offenders accountable.
o Recognizes an offender’s likelihood of battering in future relationships.
o Provides mechanisms for documenting the pattern and history of abuse when and wherever possible.
o Reinforces a swift, timely response focused on victim safety.
o Recognizes the ways in which abusers use children to control adult victims of abuse.
o Understands that protection of the adult victim parent is critical to the welfare of children.
o Provides effective mechanisms to ensure victim notification, access to advocacy and victim services, and safety planning.
C. Monitoring
o Links practitioners to those who intervene at the next points of intervention.
o Specifies how and within what time frame case information is shared, and with whom.
o Includes mechanisms for tracking practitioner compliance with policy and for recording exceptions to the policy.
o Includes steps to ensure compliance and address non-compliance.
o Provides continuing education and training for practitioners on an on-going basis.
o Establishes a process of record sharing and external monitoring.
II. 911 Dispatcher Response Best Practices
A. In RECEIVING 911 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CALLS, dispatchers:
1. Communicate effectively and respectfully with callers.
o Respond to callers who are unable to communicate or to communicate clearly.
· Slow down
· Simplify language
· Adjust response to caller’s fear, injury, disability, intoxication
· Language interpretation
· TTY/TDD
§ Be alert to impact of strangulation or other injuries
o Elicit information safely.
· Verify that it is safe for caller to speak freely
· Verify that it is safe for caller to speak freely
o Use strategies that promote safety when it has not been confirmed that the caller can
speak freely.
· Ask yes/no questions
· Avoid open-ended narrative questions
o Respond to calls that are disconnected or otherwise uncompleted.
o Be alert to suspect on the line.
· Be alert to background sounds
· Check whether phone number or address is known location for prior domestic calls
· Ask yes/no questions
§ Example: Caller says “everything’s okay now.” 911: Can you safely answer questions? Caller: “No.” 911: “If you need police help now, press the # key on the phone.”
o Reflect awareness of cultural and social factors in communication.
· Language interpretation
· Avoid jargon
· Slow down
o Establish rapport and communicate core messages to callers.
· Reinforce that 911 help is available, regardless of how many times they have called
· Avoid blaming or criticizing
· Respond with courtesy, respect, and reassurance, even when caller is difficult to work with
2. Determine the nature of the emergency and the response priority.
o Establish the immediate threat of harm to persons at the scene, responding officers,
and others.
o Determine the nature of any injuries and the need for immediate medical attention.
o Establish whether children are safe or unsafe, harmed or being harmed, abducted, or being drawn into the events in any way.
o Dispatch as a high priority call unless safety information warrants lower priority.
o Use accurate and appropriate type code that clearly identifies the call as domestic
violence-related.
3. Direct responding officers to the location and parties at the scene
o Establish the correct address and physical location.
o Establish who is involved and each party’s location at the scene.
o Communicate the caller’s location to officers.
4. Establish the type and level of danger.
o Elicit information from the caller about the immediate present danger and acts of
aggression or harm that have occurred or are occurring.
o Elicit information about the suspect’s history of aggression.
o Determine the risk to persons at the scene.
o Determine the risk to responding officers.
5. Advance safety for those at the scene while help is en route.
o Communicate safely and effectively with the caller.
o Provide safety suggestions or instructions to the caller.
o Provide medical instructions to the caller.
o When possible, engage with suspect on the line to control escalation while
officers are en route.
○ Remain calm and respectful.
○ Avoid arguing.
o Do not share what the caller has said or why police were called.
6. Communicate and document information related to the nature of the emergency; violence, threats, and injuries; and the safety of responding officers and those at the scene.
o Relay information to dispatch and responding officers with accuracy and attention to the safety of officers and those at the scene.
o Access and relay records, including:
· Orders for protection
· Harassment orders
· No-contact orders issued in conjunction with a domestic violence-related
criminal case
o Active probation or parole status
o Provide updated information to officers and respond to officers’ requests.
o Document disposition of the call.
7. Establish a foundation for continuous engagement with members of the public seeking help in domestic abuse cases.
o Avoid placing the victim in a position of confrontation with the offender.
o Protect the victim from retaliation when communicating with the offender.
o Treat each interaction with the victim as an opportunity to build a partnership over
multiple contacts.
o Know the signs that violence may be resuming or escalating.
o Explain when caller is placed on hold.
B: In DISPATCHING 911 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CALLS: dispatchers:
1. Relay the nature of the emergency and the response priority to responding officers.
o Immediate threat of harm to responding officers, the victim, and others.
o Nature of any injuries and the need for immediate medical attention.
o Whether children are present and safe or unsafe, harmed or being harmed.
o Priority dispatch unless safety information warrants lower priority.
o Use of accurate and appropriate type code that clearly identifies the call as domestic
violence-related.
2. Direct responding officers to the correct address, location, and appropriate people at the scene, including detailed information that will assist officers in locating a suspect who has left the scene.
o Correct address and physical location.
o Identities and descriptions of who is involved.
o Suspect information in gone-on-arrival calls:
· Physical description, including clothing
· Means and direction of travel.
· Vehicle description.
· Locations suspect might frequent (e.g., particular bar, neighborhood, family member’s home).
3. Relay to responding officers all available information about the type and level of danger involved, including violence, threats, and injuries.
o Immediate present danger and acts of aggression or harm to those at the scene.
o Suspect’s history of aggression.
o Threats and risk to persons at the scene.
o Risk to responding officers.
4. Advance officer and public safety while help is en route and at the scene.
o Check officer status and safety.
o Update changes on scene.
o Update suspect location.
o Update caller location.
o Check for past calls to location or calls concerning the parties involved.
5. Communicate and document information related to the nature of the emergency and the safety of responding officers and those at the scene.
o Details of violence and threats.
o Records check.
o Court orders.
o Probation and parole status.
o Accurate and complete CAD entries and radio transmissions.
6. Promptly respond to requests for information from call takers, other dispatchers, patrol officers, pretrial release agencies, prosecutors, and probation officers related to 911 domestic violence-related calls
o Utilize all available local, state, and national databases, documents, and other
records.
o Promptly relay the search results.
III. Law Enforcement Response Practices
A. In RESPONDING TO A DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CALL, the actions taken and written documentation in incident reports, include:
1. Background and account of the officer’s actions
o Time of officers’ arrival and time of the incident.
o Relevant 911 information, including specific details about any violence or threats communicated in the 911 call.
o Immediate statements of either party and any witnesses at the scene.
o A complete description of the scene.
o Any existing orders for protection, harassment restraining orders, criminal case no-contact orders, probation holds, warrants, prior convictions.