Conference Aims to Curb Domestic Violence Plague

While public debate over street crime reaches a fever pitch, the biggest threat to women’s safety in fact lies at home: 75% of women murdered are killed by their husbands or lovers, participants in a conference on domestic violence said Monday.

And as “three strikes and you’re out” goes into effect against repeat felons, the fact remains that some women are assaulted dozens of times by a domestic partner before the justice system gets involved, said Barbara Hart, an attorney and victims’ rights advocate. Even then, poor coordination among police and prosecutors too often lets the perpetrator off, she said.

More than 450 police officers, social workers, judges, doctors and victims’ advocates jammed the Police Academy gymnasium for Los Angeles’ first large-scale conference on domestic violence, which was conceived by psychiatrist Marjorie Braude and co-sponsored by her husband, Councilman Marvin Braude, and the Police Department.

The theme of the conference was how to increase coordination within the justice system to stop family batterers, and participants both criticized the lack of a stronger response to domestic violence and praised ongoing efforts to control abusers.

Swamped by increasing domestic violence in the city, the LAPD is beefing up its response to assaults and murders among family members and working closely with victim advocacy groups that assist with investigations and violence prevention.

Police officials said that domestic violence constitutes 40% of police calls in many areas of Los Angeles.

Domestic violence is a threat not only to its direct victims, but to the police who spend so much of their time dealing with it. Volatile family disputes are the deadliest assignments for police officers, accounting for 40% of police deaths nationwide last year, according to the National Assn. of Chiefs of Police. When rookie Officer Christy Lynne Hamilton was fatally shot last month in Northridge, she was responding to a domestic violence call.

And violence in the home contributes to violence throughout society, participants said. They noted that most of the inmates crowding California jails have either been victims of battering in the home or grew up in an atmosphere of domestic violence.

There has often been inadequate coordination of police and prosecutors, leading to batterers evading conviction, conference participants said.

In order to increase the successful prosecution of domestic violence, the Police Department last September launched a pilot program in its Southwest Division that dedicated seven detectives to domestic violence cases and increased coordination with prosecutors. In the past, a case usually bounced through several assistant city attorneys or assistant district attorneys before it was prosecuted. The program will be implemented departmentwide in a few weeks, Cmdr. John White said.

A similar program started in San Diego in 1992 has helped reduce domestic violence homicides by more than 50%, said San Diego Police Sgt. Anne O’Dell.

In addition to increased communication with prosecutors, police are increasingly relying on private groups to help out with investigations and assistance to victims. In the pilot program in the Southwest Division, officers take the victims of domestic violence and their children to an organization called the Jenesse Center or to one of the shelters in its referral network. The center also makes available vouchers so battered women can stay in motels if necessary.

The division also provides the names and phone numbers of victims of domestic violence so the Jenesse Center can make follow-up calls, since batterers rarely strike just once.

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In the Los Angeles Harbor area, a group called Rainbow Services has a similar program of working closely with police. Last weekend the police and Rainbow Services started dispatching teams of Rainbow volunteers who go to the site of an arrest within 20 minutes to assist the victim.

Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams said more coordination is needed among all service agencies. “When we have to arrest someone or take someone to the hospital, it means other parts of the system have failed,” he said.

Hart rejected a notion that she said is held by many judges and others, that if a battered woman would only leave the abusive relationship she would be safe. “At the time she leaves (her husband or lover) she may be at greatest risk of being killed,” because the jealous partner cannot stand to lose control of her.

Moreover, women in Los Angeles often have nowhere to go once they decide to leave home. Assistant Dist. Atty. Audrey Collins said there are only 250 beds for battered women and their children, nowhere near enough.

Both police officers and victims’ advocates at the conference complained of a lack of financial resources for efforts against domestic violence. Dr. Braude said that the city has set up a $10,000 domestic violence trust fund and is seeking corporate donations.