Domestic Violence Task Force

According to the 2006 Uniform Crime Report (latest edition currently available) published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, there were 14,990 murders in the United States for which there is statistical data available.  2,083 of these murders were domestic related or committed against a member of the killer’s immediate household or a current or former intimate partner.  This represents a staggering 13% of homicides in the United States.  These figures continue a consistent trend from year to year.  To put these 2,083 domestic related murders into perspective; in the same report (2006), there were 1,041 victims killed during armed robberies and 796 narcotics related murders in the United States. 

Haywood County has not escaped the national trend.  In 2006 there were two homicides investigated by the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office and they investigated one homicide in 2007. All of three of these murders were domestic related.  That means 100% of the murders in our community over the past two years have been domestic related.  In 2007 there were 309 Domestic Violence Orders issued by Haywood County Courts and 376 domestic related criminal warrants were issued in Haywood County during the same year.

The Haywood County Sheriff’s Office responds to this trend with the Domestic Violence Task Force.  The Task Force is staffed by a one Deputy and one Advocate.  Other agencies in the community including law enforcement, the Clerk of Court, the Magistrates, and the Department of Social Services, play a part in steering victims of domestic violence towards the Sheriff’s Office Domestic Violence Task Force.

When a domestic violence victim walks through the door of the Sheriff’s Office seeking help she (or he) will first be assisted by the Advocate. The Task Force often assists male domestic violence victims but men are predominately abusers and the victims are women.

The Advocate can listen to the victim’s story and determine what assistance would best apply to each unique situation.  Often the victim is in need of a Domestic Violence Protective Order.  To the victim, just asking for help requires a huge step in courage.  Statistics show that the average battered woman will attempt to escape her circumstances nine times before succeeding.

The idea of seeking a restraining order from the court seems like an insurmountable challenge to the victim.  In an effort to maintain iron fisted control over the victim, a common tactic of an abuser is to convince the victim that he has connections in the courts and among law enforcement fostering in his victim distrust for the very agencies that can assist her.  He has often systematically kept her economically dependant, as well, to control her. 

The advocate can empower the victim to take back the power over her own life with a protective order.The Advocate can help the victim fill out the paperwork and draw up the order.  Then the Advocate takes the documents to the Court on behalf of the victim to get them signed by a Judge.  The Advocate also comes to court when needed to assist the victim. 

The advocate also can help the victim to obtain other services needed like emergency shelter.  The Advocate can also help weed out fraudulent or spurious applications for Protective Orders.  Often the Advocate can counsel the victim about how to obtain a warrant if he or she has been the victim of an assault or other crime.

When the advocate has returned with the signed Protective Order called an Ex-Parte’ she turns it over to her partner, the Domestic Violence Deputy.  The Deputy then effects service on the Protective Order and any domestic warrants involved.  Often the Deputy, per the order, will evict the abuser from the couple’s home and assist the victim in returning to the home. 

The order always forbids any further contact by the abuser with the victim.  The order can also determine who will temporarily maintain custody of the children involved and if appropriate can provide protection to the children, as well. 

In all cases there is a court hearing on the Ex-parte’ within ten days to give the court a chance to hear from the defendant.  At that time the Judge has the option to make the Ex-parte’ a permanent order effective for one year. 

The Domestic violence Deputy also has the responsibility of enforcing the order with arrest if it is violated by the abuser.  The Domestic Violence Deputy does the initial response on many of the domestic calls that come into the Sheriff’s Office.

Both the Advocate and the Deputy routinely conduct public awareness appearances and attend training.

Domestic violence is about control for the abuser.  The victim knows that she is at the greatest risk when she tries to break that control by leaving and the statistics bear this out.  Victims often do not feel empowered to pursue criminal charges when they are assaulted because of fear of retaliation.  Because of these dynamics, the North Carolina Legislature has given law enforcement a means to intervene on the victim’s behalf even when the victim feels it necessary to appear reluctant to do so in front of the abuser. 

Under North Carolina General Statutes, a law enforcement officer can make an arrest for an assault if it is domestic in nature and the officer can see visible signs of an assault.  Officers can make the arrest even without the victim’s cooperation.  North Carolina law also prohibits a Magistrate from setting a bond in a domestic case.  Only a District Court Judge can do so.  The effect of this requirement is that, in most cases, an abuser who is arrested will likely spend the night in jail and can spend up to 48 hours in jail.  This creates a 48 hour “cooling off period”.  This gives officers a chance to empower the victim to get out of the dangerous situation.

The Task Force launched an exciting new program for 2008 called AWARE (Abused Women’s Active Response Emergency).  This program is a partnership between local law enforcement and ADT, the security giant.  If a domestic violence victim is in imminent danger from her abuser and meets certain criteria then she can receive one of the alarms to provide a sense of security and immediate access to law enforcement.