High Point, N.C. - It's the number one crime High Point Police respond to every year. Each call requires at least two officers and thirty minutes of their time. One third of the homicides in high point are related to it. After years of battling domestic violence, High Point Police have a new approach that could change the way officers all over the nation deal with this problem.
High Point Police Department's new program takes the spotlight off the victim and turns attention to the offender.
"It's not going to be about what she's doing. Because of your rich criminal history, it's about you being violent and us being very effective at controlling you," Deputy Chief Marty Sumner said.
Police discovered domestic violence offenders typically have a history of drug arrests, arrests and jail time. These are warning signs that often get overlooked because the system doesn't do a good job linking the offenses together.
"The system is broken," paperwork, time, victim cooperation, court delays, budget cuts: High Point Police wrote all these excuses on a whiteboard and asked themselves, "Are these offenders getting enough attention from the department?" Officers all responded, "No."
"The victims have a reason to be frustrated. The officers, the prosecutors, the judges are frustrated. We all have to set the reset button. We can no longer sit around and say, 'This doesn't work because of that,'" Sumner said.
High Point's new tactic involves taking more pictures, videos, and gathering more evidence. If the victim chooses not to testify, the department could potentially prosecute the abuser without the victim's testimony.
Later this month, police are calling in twenty-two of the city's worst domestic abusers. They'll face a panel of community members and law enforcement who will explain domestic violence is not acceptable.
After that meeting, those offenders are on notice. If they get arrested for anything -- drugs, speeding, any police activity, the department will zero in on them and work with the legal system to prosecute them quickly. In addition, officers will reinvestigate their previous crimes.
Finally, the department will connect these individuals with organizations that want to help. The overall goal is to change the behavior and flush the abuse out of the community.
Police departments all over the nation are watching to see if this works. If it is successful, this concept could revolutionize the way law enforcement agencies handle domestic violence cases.