BY EMMA DIMAIO

As of late, the articles on this page have delved into the origins and subsequent workshopping, development and aftermath of the Focus Deterrence Strategy. In short, the tactic involves the confrontation of a repeat offender and hopeful reformation by law enforcement and community stakeholders.  This tactic, however, has a significant subsection. Due to specific crime category of Intimate Partner Violence, or IPV, being the substantial factor of these cases.

 

This brought to light the need for said subsection, branching off of the Focused Deterrence Strategy, Offender Focused Domestic Violence Initiative.

 

OFDVI

An immensely guiding light throughout the entire dissection of the phenomenally healing services that High Point Community Against Violence provides has been its Executive Director, Jim Summey. His comments on OFDVI were no different.

 

“Its about focusing on the offender and holding offenders responsible and accountable for their violence against intimate partners,” said Summey. “Too often the emphasis is on the victim when all the while the offender is the perpetrator. Fear regarding victim harm held criminal justice back for years.  The OFDVI is a big step towards prosecuting domestic abusers and exposing them for what they are.”

 

That isn’t to say that victims are simply thrown to the wind once they are successfully separated from their abusers. The strategy simply goes the extra mile to be sure that an abuser loses any chance of repeating the offense, whether it be against the same victim or a new one.

 

“We know that the time that a victim is leaving and shortly thereafter are often the most dangerous times.  Our response is a partnership of experts that work together to hold the offender accountable AND keep the victim safe.  We work closely with the advocate to ensure safety,” said Tim Ellenberger, Captain of the High Point Police Department. “We take the burden off the victim and assume it ourselves.  We don’t expect them to take on the task of holding the offender accountable and picking up their family and moving for something that the offender is responsible for. We give the offender a clear message that we know who they are and that we are in charge of any actions – not the victim.”

THE NEW INTIMACY, BETWEEN ADVOCATE AND VICTIM 

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Teri Hyman is the Adult Victim Services Program Coordinator of Family Services of the Piedmont. Hyman’s face is one of the first a domestic violence victim will see after they have come forward been approached by law enforcement at the hint of trouble.

“What I do is run the program at the Family Justice center,” says Hyman, “where I have a team of advocates: a sexual assault advocate, a human trafficking advocate and an LGBTQ+ advocate.”

 

Hyman’s team can provide shelter, a referral to legal aid, assistance with restraining orders and a referral to therapy and counseling. The outreach extends when a child is involved, leading to a referral to a child advocacy coordinator, a forensic interview and trauma counseling.  Hyman's team can also accompany a victim to court if there is a more intense animosity between the victim and the abuse, as well as act as a liaison between district attorney's office and the client to keep them on top of their victim compensation and other such responsibilities.

 

For all this aid to be put into action, however, there needs to be a societally assumed agreement from the victim to surrender to Hyman’s care, which does not always emerge.

 

“Its very client driven, you want to give the power back to client,” says Hyman. “So we don’t want to tell them what to do, we let them drive the boat.”

 

But what if the victim would much rather jump overboard?

 

“That the toughest part of our job bc we have situations where women don’t know how much danger they are in.”

 

This is when a lab assessment comes in. This series of questions brings to light just how vicious of a cycle of circumstances the victim is trapped in, to said victim.

 

“It's kind like a situation where you have a frog in boiling water. If you put the frog in water and slowly bring it to a boil, the frog won’t truly know it is in danger until it's too late,” explains Hyman, “but if you drop a frog into boiling water, then it knows its in a dangerous situation. These women have been in this for so long, it's the norm for them.”

 

This leads to consistent follow up from Hyman, heavy duty safety planning all while following her one rule: “We never tell them to leave.”

 

AN OFFENDER’S FINAL SECOND CHANCE

It's no surprise that these actions throughout the years have significantly decreased the amount of IPV homicides. By the simple dedication to the process, which includes notifying the offender, stripping away their anonymity and making them aware of the imminent consequences that await the individual should they re-offend, ultimately solidifies the safety of victims.

 

“In the years since we’ve been doing this,” Ellenberger says, “only one notified offender has murdered his partner. And we’ve notified over 3,000 DV offenders.”

 

In High Point before OFDVI 33 percent of all homicides involved intimate partners. According to US DOJ stats, nationally 16.3 percent of all homicides involved intimate partners. Guilford County experienced 13 of 26 (50 percent) and NC experienced 60 DV related homicides in 2013. The Lexington, NC Police Department became the first agency to replicate the OFDVI with an implementation date of July 1, 2014

 

“Most notified Domestic Violence offenders do not reoffend violently,” says Summey. “They may break a protective order but usually not in a violent way.  The great power of this approach is telling the offender that they are on notice, they are being watched. Offenders control their victims and this notification breaks their control. Domestic Violence offenders are like vampires, they shun the light of revelation.”