Part II of II
Federal stimulus dollars were used to enhance funding available through the federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), with DCJS receiving an additional $7.4 million to augment programs that serve domestic violence and sexual assault victims across New York State. In addition to using the funds to create the DIR repository, DCJS provided grants to 59 law enforcement agencies and non-profit organizations to improve services for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Police departments and sheriffs’ offices will continue to use hard-copy DIR’s when their officers respond to calls for service, and will continue to mail copies of those reports to DCJS. Once received, DCJS staff will scan the reports and extract specific identifiers - names, addresses, addresses of incident locations and document numbers - that will be verified and then compiled into a secure electronic database.
Authorized users, such as police, prosecutors and dispatchers, will be able to search the electronic database by those specific identifiers, and will see every DIR associated with an individual or address, regardless of which agency filed the paper report.
For example, Albany police will be able to see if a DIR was filed in neighboring Colonie. Or, an assistant district attorney will be able to research whether an individual arrested for harassing his ex-girlfriend has been named as an offender, and his ex-girlfriend as the victim, on prior DIR’s that didn’t result in an arrest.
"Since domestic violence incidents are usually part of a longer pattern of behavior, having a full and accurate history of the relationship is essential both for police to respond properly to situations, and for victims and advocates to document what has happened," Executive Director Barasch said.
"Given that there are more than 550 police departments outside of New York City, having one centralized source of information to enhance collaboration across jurisdictions will go a long way to holding offenders accountable, and giving real force and effect to the laws we have on the books," she added.
Added Warren County District Attorney Kate Hogan, who is president of the New York State District Attorneys’ Association: "This electronic repository will allow prosecutors to have a full and complete history of abuse, and will provide critical knowledge that will help protect victims and law enforcement officers who respond to these incidents."
"Prosecutors will be able to build more compelling domestic violence cases by seeking to introduce information that previously was not readily tracked, showing the pattern of abuse and allowing victims to testify about the full breadth of the abuse they have had to endure," District Attorney Hogan added.
Also in the search result, the name of each victim, offender and incident location would be "hot-linked," allowing the user to see all DIR’s connected to a victim, offender or address.
Genesee County Sheriff Gary T. Maha, who is president of the New York State Sheriffs’ Association, said: "The DIR repository will be a great asset to law enforcement. This is another example of sharing of information by criminal justice agencies in New York State, which is critical in today’s world. I commend DCJS and the Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence for this endeavor."
A search of the DIR repository by incident address also can generate a summary of all DIR activity at that location, including the number of reports filed and if there are any "red flag" indicators, such as violence that occurred, threats that were made or whether there was access to weapons.
Dispatchers will be able to use that DIR history summary to advise responding officers of any potential threats so they can determine how to best staff and handle the call.
Port Washington Police Chief William Kilfoil, who is president of the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police, added: "Domestic incidents are one of the most difficult calls for police. The availability of previous domestic incident reports will be a useful resource to assist police in identifying a history of violence, identifying the primary physical aggressor and ultimately to protect persons in domestic relationships."
The repository will be developed by the end of 2010 and operational in early 2011.
