N.O. goes on the attack against domestic violence

By Mason Harrison
Contributing Writer

National i need a payday loan without teletrack research ranks Louisiana among a handful of states with the highest rates of male-on-female violence in the United States. Figures—taken from 21 police jurisdictions across the state—paint a grim picture of the ability of law enforcement officials to shield female residents against intimate partner violence, with Orleans Parish second in the state for areas beset by violent crimes committed against women.

But New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, unveiled a targeted program October 21 to upend the city’s scourge of domestic violence. The “Blueprint for Safety,” an intervention effort based on national models, will coordinate the responses of judicial, police, prison and intervention services to domestic violence. The program—funded by the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women—is led by local health officials “to prevent victims of…violence from falling through the cracks,” according to a news release.

“A diverse coalition of leaders from across the city have come together to take a unified stand against domestic violence, Land­rieu said, before an audience gathered at City Hall to announce the plan. “Our mission is cash advance buda tx clear: better respond to domestic violence, so that we can stop the violence and save lives.” Landrieu was not alone in lauding the initiative. NOPD Supt. Michael Harrison, hailed the program as an opportunity to “provide our officers with the tools they need to improve our response to domestic violence.”

The city’s new blueprint will institute new categories for domestic violence calls received by 911 operators, each dictating the urgency and nature of each emergency call. Police officers will respond based on the nature of each call and ask alleged victims a series of “four risk questions.” Prosecutors will include risk assessments in charging offenders, making bail recommendations and in developing plea deals. Prison officers will bar visitation between accused offenders and reported victims of domestic violence, while the city’s court system will refer batterers to intervention programs over anger management, with hopes of altering the criminal justice system’s traditional response to domestic violence.

“I called the police once to stop my husband from attacking me and it took 2000 installment loan with no credit check them an hour and a half to arrive,” says MaShanna Gallo, a 29-year-old mother who divorced her husband three years ago this month. “We didn’t live that far from the Sixth District police station and it still took them a long time to arrive. When the police did come they refused to intervene because of a lack of bruises or blood present.” Gallo, who is Black, says the experience left her feeling like she wasn’t human and never called police again.

The blueprint redirects police responses to abuse calls, requiring officers to ask: “Do you think he/she will seriously injure or kill you or your children? What makes you think so? What makes you think not?” and “How frequently and seriously does he/she intimidate, threaten or assault you? Is it changing? Getting worse? Getting better?” and “Describe the time when you felt most frightened by him/her,” and, lastly, “Have you been threatened for seeking help, particularly from law enforcement or the courts?”

Since the passage of the Violence Against Women Act axa funds in 1994, cases of domestic violence in the United States have fallen by more than 60 percent thanks to the law’s beefed up federal response to abuse cases. But across Louisiana, rates of domestic abuse have spiked in recent years in contrast to the national trend. Researchers report an estimated 17 percent jump in reported cases in the state between 2010 and 2011, a factor attributed to a lack of services and a shortage of courtrooms equipped to handle cases.

But under the blueprint, courts in Orleans Parish are required to establish “a courtroom atmosphere…to support attention to risk, context and severity, victim safety and offender accountability” by obtaining information from victims to improve offender supervision; adjusting responses for probationers who are victims of abuse; and including risk factors in conditions of release for offenders. Changes to court actions are designed to raise victims’ confidence in interacting with the justice system.

“The last straw for me is when my husband of 16 years tried to set me on fire,” priority payday loan servicing says Amy Dooley,” a Metairie native. “We were living in Lafayette and his drug abuse caused him to be more and more abusive. One morning I woke up with a shotgun pointed at my head. It began to affect every area of my life.”

But Dooley, who is white, says her ex-husband was adept at altering his mood when confronted. “I called the police and his demeanor became calm. He even came to court with a Bible in his hands.”

“Domestic violence,” Landrieu said, “does not discriminate. It happens to people of every race and gender…It is one of the leading causes of homelessness in our city. For a child, witnessing domestic violence can have profound and life changing impacts—working together, we can stop the violence and save lives.”

Blueprint of Safety is funded through a $300,000 grant for select cities chosen to run the pilot program.

This article originally published in the November 10, 2014 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.