# Domestic Violence In Mass Way Up



## Inspector (Nov 13, 2006)

Citing a tripling in domestic violence homicides in the last two years, Gov. Deval Patrick on Thursday declared a “public health emergency” and directed public health and safety officials to review data in the last three years and produce a trend analysis.
“Everybody can and should do something to prevent domestic violence,” Patrick urged at a press conference announcing the review and the strengthening of training for police officers on domestic violence and sex crimes.
Swampscott police officers will be the first department in Essex County to participate in special training arranged by Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett.
Police Chief Ron Madigan said his officers will be trained in the protocols set up by Blodgett’s office June 20 and 24. Training is done by members of Blodgett’s office and Amesbury Detective Bob Wile, the chief said.
The training will focus on lethality assessment, preventing homicides and stalking. It will also focus on the increase in domestic violence calls and the escalation of violence in domestic violence incidents, specifically strangulation, and enhancing investigation and prosecution, Madigan said.
In 2007, there were 42 murders and 13 suicides related to domestic violence in Massachusetts, averaging almost one a week and the highest rate since the early ’90s, according to Jane Doe, Inc., an advocacy group. In 2005, there were 15 murders and four suicides.
This year has seen 19 domestic violence homicides and five suicides, according to the group.
Patrick called the figures a “dramatic spike,” and Mary Lauby, executive director of Jane Doe, Inc., said the brutality of the violence is “more horrendous than ever.”
The state Department of Public Health today released a public health advisory in several languages, including Haitian-Creole, Vietnamese and Chinese, pointing to the statistics.
The advisory also noted that a 2003 Centers for Disease Control study estimated national “intimate partner” violence costs an annual $5.8 billion a year, including medical and mental health costs and lost productivity.
Patrick also announced that he had signed into law a bill creating statewide guidelines for hospitals dealing with violence victims. The bill (H 434)was sponsored by Rep. Byron Rushing, D-South End.
Patrick and Lauby pointed to a lack of coordination in the state’s anti-violence infrastructure across the state as one factor in the rise.
“We’ve let it fall apart,” she said. Lauby said an “anti-immigrant environment” was another factor, with immigrants afraid to approach police officers. “Immigrant victims are afraid to reach out for help,” she said. “It is literally killing people because they’re afraid to come forward.”
Paul Porter, chief of police in Randolph, will be revising law enforcement guidelines and include “multi-cultural law enforcement” in training.
Anti-domestic violence advocates were pressing for an additional $10 million to a $5.2 million line item, but received an increase of roughly $1 million in the House and Senate $28 billion budgets. “We’re basically level-funded,” Lauby said.
The money is needed for additional emergency shelter beds, advocates say. There are 376 beds currently, according to Jane Doe, Inc., while Missouri, with a smaller population than Massachusetts, has 700 beds.
SWAMPSCOTT REPORTER


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