November Theatre
November 5, 2007
Daniel Rodrigue, Sr.
November 7, 2007No matter how well the intentions are or how strong the effort is, one system alone cannot stop domestic violence.
“Being a lone wolf is not an option in this fight,” said Lt. Karla Beck, director of the Lafourche Parish Sheriff Office’s Police Social Service Division.
Domestic violence is a pattern of behavior that an abuser uses to establish or maintain power and control over his/her victim. However, Lafourche Parish estimates that 95 percent of its abusers are male.
Domestic violence prevention in the parish can be summed up in the acronym CCR, which means two things: coordinated community response or community collaborative response.
Either describes the approach the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office, Lafourche Parish District Attorney’s Office and the local Metropolitan Center for Women and Children are using to combat domestic violence in the area.
“We acknowledge each other’s differences,” Beck said. “We agree to sometimes disagree, but we work for a mutual understanding.”
The coordinated community response consists of a team of key players united to develop strategies and procedures aimed at successful interventions in domestic violence cases. The group is guided by a set of rules, and they identify their own goals, Beck said.
The three main goals that govern the CCR are:
• Maximizing safety for victims and children
• Holding offenders accountable
• Adopting a zero-tolerance policy for domestic violence in the community
Since its inception in 2003, the CCR’s caseload is finally declining – not because it’s failing to make the arrests, but rather abusers in parish are taking note that domestic violence won’t be tolerated.
“There are no second chances when it comes to domestic violence and holding abusers accountable for their actions,” Beck said.
Statistics show that in 2003, CCR made 133 arrests. By 2004, the number had doubled because the officers were in the community policing the abuse cases.
Last month, which marked Domestic Violence Awareness Month across the nation, the sheriff’s office responded to a little over 120 domestic violence cases.
“More victims began to report the cases to the proper authorities,” Beck said.
Near the end of 2006, the caseload rose slightly but stabilized at 290 cases.
“You will never get rid of domestic violence, but you can do all you can to control it,” she said.
CCR follows core principles, which include the duty of confronting the abuser and placing restrictions on him/her, changing the community’s response to domestic violence and focusing on the intervention rather than the crime or punishment.
Beck has a counseling background, which has proven beneficial on the job. “I am a LPC and a licensed marriage and family therapist so I provide crisis intervention assistance for victims,” she said.
The unit got its start as a one-woman team, but Beck soon came to realize that the need for the services grew and more staff was added. Now, the staff consists of six full-time officers. The sheriff’s office also has a 24-hour domestic intervention team.
In addition, the Lafourche Parish District Attorney’s Office has two domestic violence advocates.
“We are all equally responsible,” said Geralyn Pitre, who is the assistant to the D.A.’s domestic violence prosecutor Diana Sanders. “We don’t blame, but we do look for solutions to problems.”
“If one person’s load is too heavy, then the system will not work,” Pitre said. “We have to work together.”
The district attorney prosecutes the domestic violence cases in the area where the domestic violence charges range from simple battery to one of the newest charges, domestic abuse/child endangerment.
The law states that if a child is present during the time of the incident then the abuser is charged with for the domestic violence dispute as well as child endangerment.
“This was enacted because most children who have witnessed domestic violence either become an abuser or become involved in domestic dispute,” Beck said. “It’s a cycle and it has to be broken somehow.”
In October, the district attorney’s office handled approximately 40 cased of domestic violence. In 2006, the office prosecuted more than 450 cases.
To date in 2007, the number is closer to 360 cases.
In addition, the Metropolitan Center for Women and Children helps victims cope with domestic violence and other crimes like sexual abuse and stalking.
According to Tamara Joseph, the local Metropolitan advocate, Lafourche Parish has served more than 250 protective orders in the last two years.
Victims should always take protective measures to keep their families safe. Beck said residents can visit the Louisiana Coalition of Domestic Violence Web site or the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office Web site for safety planning tips.
The Lafourche Parish fight against domestic violence is funded by a grant to the Encourage Arrest Policies program.
For more information, contact the 24-hour Metropolitan hotline at (504) 837-5400 or the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office Domestic Violence division at (985) 449-4477.
