Minnesota: Alice-in-Wonderland Justice for Men Accused of DV
Remember the famous line from Through the Looking Glass, ” Sentence first – verdict afterwards”? Read through this article, looking for the words “due process,” “innocent until proven guilty,” or “false allegation.” And search for any hint that women also instigate partner aggression.
Officials Hope They have a New Blueprint to Stop Domestic Violence
Scott Nichols
April 28, 2010
Ask any police officer about the types of calls that they dread answering most, and you’re likely to hear that domestic abuse or battery calls are near the top.
The reason why is simple.
“The domestic-related calls are some of the most challenging, as well as most dangerous,” said St. Paul Police spokesman Paul Schnell, whose department responded to 10,356 reports of domestic violence in 2009.
Examples aren’t hard to come by: while much attention was paid to the high-profile death of North St. Paul police officer Richard Chrittenden, killed last year responding to a domestic call in that suburb, the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women’s tallies indicate 12 women and 10 children across the state were killed by domestic violence in 2009; in 2008, 23 women and 7 children were fatally victimized.
The challenges to responding officers aren’t just safety-related, either: given the high emotions involved, it can be quite tricky to make a good assessment of the call, not to mention collect evidence to build a case, Schnell said.
And given the high number of calls, the result has been all too often predictable: “As we’ve seen in the past, victims often fall through the cracks,” said Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher, whose department logged 13,000 orders for protection last year. Mentioning the case of Terri Lee, killed 5 years ago in Washington County by an estranged ex, however, he made clear that orders for protection – like other current sanctioned responses to domestic abuse – have a notable weakness. The abusers.
If abusers don’t get the nearly immediate message that sanctions for abuse will be swift, they often don’t get the message at all.
“In a domestic violence victim’s case there are 100 things that have to go right” for the accused to face sanction, said St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington.
With Schnell and Fletcher, Harrington was among the many law enforcement and judicial officials to gather with victims’ advocates April 1 to unveil St. Paul’s long-awaited attempt to remedy this situation.
Called the Blueprint for Safety, local officials are hoping it eventually serves as a model response to domestic abuse cases for law enforcement agencies nationwide.
Born out of a $500,000 state grant authored by State Sen. Mee Moua and State Rep. John Lesch, the 149-page document makes clear the challenge such cases set for society: a single domestic abuse case involves five different levels of government, and over a dozen intervening agencies.
But the blueprint actually creates written policies dictating what needs to happen in the each of the more than 100 steps to successfully prosecute a domestic violence case, beginning with the 911 operator taking the initial call and ending with the probation officer who discharges the case sometimes years later.
“The blueprint outlines each and every one of these steps,” said Harrington, noting that the document, years in the making, dictates a response far different than that common amongst his brethren back when he started on the force in the 1970s, when abusers were often just told to walk it off, or go drink a beer.
Retired Ramsey County District Court Judge Mary Louise Klas remembers those days well, and noted that while appropriate laws have always been on the books, it’s the coordination between law enforcement agencies that often proves to be the weak point.
“A lot of days the criminal prosecution system is like a manufacturing line, and everyone does their part,” said John Choi, who retired as St. Paul City Attorney the next week.
Using some of the recommendations found in the blueprint, said Choi, has already helped bring down the length of time it takes to get a court hearing. “It used to take us weeks or months, and now it takes us days.”
For more information on the Blueprint for Safety, go to www.stpaulblueprintspip.org.
Source: http://www.southwestreviewnews.com/main.asp?SectionID=62&SubSectionID=275&ArticleID=5405
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