Scott W. Turner: A critical look at domestic violence

SUMMIT COUNTY, CO — Two years ago, a group of professionals in the community came together to determine how victims of domestic violence could be better served. This group consisted of representatives from the different law enforcement agencies, the district attorney’s office, victim’s advocates, social services, probation and therapists. The group decided to conduct an audit of the criminal justice system as it pertains to cases involving domestic violence. After undergoing training on how to conduct such an audit, the group decided to audit the process based on the question, “How is the risk to the victim of domestic violence recognized, addressed and accounted for in the response from 911 to case termination?”

The audit team decided to first turn a critical eye upon the Summit County Dispatch Center and look at how 911 calls are handled. The audit process began with the gathering of information. Initially, focus groups were held with victims of domestic violence to solicit their experiences with the criminal justice system. Audit team members then spent evenings observing how the dispatch center operated and interviewing the 911 dispatchers. The policies and procedures of the dispatch center were reviewed. Police reports from domestic violence calls were culled from each law enforcement agency and analyzed. And finally, recordings of the 911 calls that initiated those police reports were listened to. In all, more than 30 domestic violence cases were reviewed.

While any audit process is by its nature a critical one, one thing was obvious from the beginning: The people at the Summit County Dispatch Center do an amazing job. One might have the impression that a 911 dispatcher simply answers the phone. However, there is much more to it than that. They are often dealing with frantic people in hectic situations. But even then they are not just handling a single 911 phone call. They may also be handling multiple phone calls, observing multiple computer screens filled with information, taking radio calls from police officers or medical and fire units, keeping track of the location of all police officers on the road and dispatching officers to those in need of service. And because of budget constraints, there may only be one dispatcher on duty to handle everything.

But while they do an amazing job, they audit team still found areas to improve when it came to handling domestic violence calls. Most of these suggested improvements revolve around the unique dynamics of domestic violence cases, while some would apply to all types of calls. For example, the team noticed that when a Spanish-speaking person called, an outside interpreting service had to be contacted. This took time. In an emergency situation, the time it took to contact an interpreter could be critical for the victim and anybody else in the household.

Other recommendations that directly related to domestic violence cases include insuring the victim’s safety was not compromised by not staying on the phone; determining the location of children or others in the household; establishing any prior history of violence between the victim and the offender; insuring the appropriate information is relayed to responding police officers; and insuring all pertinent details of the incident are documented. The audit team determined that the implementation of all of these recommendations would increase the safety of victims, which is of paramount importance in domestic violence situations.

The final audit report regarding dispatch was recently presented to the sheriff and all of the Summit County police chiefs for their review and possible implementation of the recommendations. Now that the audit team has finished its review of the dispatch center they will continue to work their way through the criminal justice system, with the next step being a review of law enforcement’s response. It is anticipated that because the initial training on how to conduct the audit is completed and the team has the experience of the first audit under its belt, it is expected that the next audit will be conducted at a much quicker pace.

We will continue to keep the public updated on our progress. To view the complete audit report, please visit the district attorney’s website at www.da5.us.

Scott W. Turner is chief deputy district attorney for the 5th Judicial District in Breckenridge.

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