Family Violence: Justice Is as Close as the Phone

It was 6 a.m. on Friday, and Family Court psychologist E. Ronald Hulbert was about to go off duty when his telephone rang.

A Los Angeles police officer was calling to report a man kicking down the door of a Silver Lake apartment, threatening to beat up his live-in girlfriend and their 2-month-old child. The officer wanted a temporary restraining order to keep the man away.

After a few questions and a quick check of records--which took about seven minutes--Hulbert approved the order, acting under a new statewide program that allows police handling domestic violence problems to get relief when the courts are closed.

Before the program was put into effect Friday, officers responding to after-hours reports of spouse or child abuse could arrest the violent person but could not prevent him or her from posting bail and returning to the scene.

Adds Legal Clout

Where an arrest was barred by law, such as cases of threats without actual violence, the officer could only ask one of the parties to leave. A temporary restraining order adds legal compulsion to such a request.

“The (order) is a resource that gives us an extra tool . . . to help us intervene in these domestic violence situations,” said Mike Lund, an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department’s domestic violence training division.

Under a law signed by Gov. Deukmejian last year, every county court in California was required as of July 1 to establish an all-night telephone hot line for law enforcement officers seeking to separate feuding spouses or to remove children from abusive home environments. The hot lines also operate on weekends and holidays--whenever courts are closed.

The new law requires that parties be related by blood, or to have lived together for at least six months, in order to qualify for an emergency protective order.

Restraining orders approved over the hot line are valid from the time they are issued until 5 p.m. the next court day--long enough for the complaining party to appear before a judge to ask for longer-term help, such as a yearlong restraining order or a more permanent custody arrangement.

“We don’t want to give the impression that we can solve people’s problems,” said the director of Family Court Services in Los Angeles, Hugh McIsaac. “But we can at least solve them until they can come into court the next day.” In Los Angeles County, a team of about 30 referees will staff the hot line on a rotating basis. They were appointed by Frances Rothschild, supervising judge of Los Angeles County’s family law section.

Most of these referees, such as Hulbert, are domestic dispute mediators employed by the Family Court Services branch of the Los Angeles County Superior Court--psychologists, social workers and marriage counselors who normally help the court draw up divorce agreements.

McIsaac said each referee will be asked to sign up for a night telephone shift once or twice a month. “You might say we’re losing sleep over this program,” he said. “But it’s for a good cause.”

McIsaac estimated that it will cost the county about $258,000 a year to cover the cost of salaries and supplies for the program. He said some of the cost may be refunded by the state.

Judges, Lawyers Serve

In other counties throughout the state, teams of judges or lawyers will also serve as referees.

McIsaac said he anticipates the program will bring up to 70 calls a night, to be fielded by one or more referees, as needed. McIsaac said outbreaks of domestic violence are most common at night and on weekends, when family members are together at home.

Under the program, a police officer at the scene of domestic violence calls a supervisor, who contacts the referee on a three-way telephone line. The referee then determines whether grounds exist to issue an emergency protective order.

State law requires that there be a reasonable basis to believe that a person is in “immediate and present danger of domestic violence by a family or household member,” as well as past threats or abuse by that person, according to Lynn Holton, public information officer of the Administrative Office of the Courts in San Francisco. If the order is approved, the officer then fills out a form provided by the court, serving a copy on each party to the dispute, and filing one with a judge.

On June 29, Family Court Services conducted a training session for local law enforcement officers. Representatives from nearly all the county’s 56 law enforcement agencies--including the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and the Long Beach Police Department--attended to learn the new procedures.