Coordinated Community Responses to Domestic Violence in Six Communities: Beyond the Justice System. Issues for Criminal Justice Agencies

The overall impact of the criminal justice response is only as strong as its weakest link. For example, a strong police response does little good if prosecutors do not move forward on the cases, judges do not sentence offenders to interventions, and probation does not assure compliance. In order to bring about systemwide changes, a community needs to raise the consciousness of each agency about their role in addressing domestic violence and how this role interacts with and affects the ability of other agencies to respond to this issue. A strong community response to domestic violence requires that each part of the criminal justice system has appropriate policies that are followed in practice. In many of the communities in this study, individual agencies developed their policies through discussions with other justice agencies and domestic violence service providers to ensure that the policy was appropriate and compatible with other agencies' procedures. Establishing this rapport may be difficult in communities where relationships among justice agencies or between justice agencies and domestic violence service providers are not well-developed or even, at times, antagonistic. However, the interaction among these agencies in the study communities was an important part of the process of developing a coordinated response.

Consistency in handling domestic violence cases is important to ensure that victims are protected, batterers are punished and that no one falls through the cracks. Improvements that rely on behavior and attitude changes on the part of a few people working within the criminal justice system are unlikely to improve the response systemwide and may not be sustained over time. Agencies must adopt policies and procedures that ensure that everyone responds appropriately in every case, and reinforce these changes through ongoing training. Across the sites, many people stressed the importance of this predictability in making battered women feel safer and making batterers more aware of the likely consequences of their actions.

Criminal justice agencies' primary focus traditionally has been on the perpetrator of domestic violence. It is possible that actions within this focus can increase the risk of harm to the woman. Domestic violence is characterized by an ongoing pattern of abuse and criminal justice agencies can change to include a concern for assuring the victim's safety in addition to addressing the perpetrator's actions in a particular incident. These agencies can play a role in assisting the victims, and increasingly they do so. However, this shift often requires persons working within these agencies to rethink their roles and responsibilities in responding to domestic violence cases, and may be helped along by training on domestic violence issues. Some communities have adopted policies that include attention to the victim as a standard part of their response. For example, it has become standard practice in some jurisdictions for police departments to provide information to the victim about her rights and available resources. In some communities, police and probation also follow up with a victim, giving her a source of support, serving as a resource for her, and, through these actions, improving their ability to carry out their law enforcement roles.

Working in the area of domestic violence is not for everyone. Many people become frustrated trying to hold the batterer accountable through the criminal justice process when the victim is unwilling to cooperate or remains in the abusive relationship. It is important to have people dealing with these cases who are aware of and sensitive to these issues, and do not turn their frustrations back on the victims.

While specialization can improve the ultimate response to domestic violence, it is often not sufficient by itself. Even with specialized staff for domestic violence, others in the agency still come into contact with domestic violence victims and issues. Training and policies should support an effective response by everyone in the agency.