Immigrant Victims

I had a case once that involved a man who had arrived in the U.S. several years before his wife.  He arrived here after swimming the Rio Grande, worked hard, got amnesty under a federal program, and eventually was awarded with naturalized citizenship.  He opened a restaurant, and the American dream became his reality.  Eventually he held his hand out across the border to his wife, and she came to join him. 

            He began to beat her almost immediately, and this evidently continued through both pregnancies and past when the youngest child entered first grade.  The children had been born in America, so they held U.S. citizenship.  The husband had gained his citizenship.  Mom was the only “illegal” in the family, and he reminded her of that each and every day. 

He held this fact over her head constantly, often threatening that he would call Immigration officials if she didn’t obey him.  She was absolutely convinced that U.S. citizenship came with the extra benefit of direct access to federal law enforcement agents who were sitting around waiting for someone like her husband to call and inform on her. 

            This was especially terrifying because their children were U.S. citizens.  She knew that deportation meant they would be left at the mercy of a man she’d come to realize was monstrous.  Part of her decision to stay for as long as she had was her belief that her husband could have her sent out of the country on a whim, and that her children would become his next victims.  For years she chose to endure his physical and sexual assaults so that her children would not have to. 

            To make matters worse, he routinely sabotaged her efforts to gain citizenship herself, either by “losing” her paperwork, making anonymous calls that she was using illegal drugs to Immigration officials who were actually trying to help her, or simply refusing to take her to scheduled English classes and appointments.  He already controlled the pocket book, her ability to communicate with her friends and family, her transportation options, and then he added the wrinkle of controlling her very ability to stay in the same country with her children.  No wonder it took her so long to ask for help. 

During one episode he slammed her hand in a car door.  That incident was the first one ever witnessed by anyone outside their family, and it was the first time the police had ever been notified.  The person who dialed 911 from a pay phone refused to leave a name and left before we got there, so there were no witnesses, but the call helped in finally allowing a police agency to get involved. 

            I remember that she was absolutely terrified of all of us.  We were large, armed men with tremendous authority over her life right then, and she must have seen us as Gestapo.  Her husband kept yelling that he was going to have her deported, that she had spent her last night on American soil.  Her lips quivered, and her eyes stayed filled but not spilling for the first two hours. 

            She believed him, of course.  She had it in her head that American citizenship came with a secret pass or power to have others jailed and deported because he’d told her so many, many times.  She firmly believed that her husband, by all rights an extraordinary spirit for all that he’d overcome and accomplished, had friends in high places that were a phone call away from tearing her from their children.  He’d begun a pattern of abuse toward the boys of late, but she’d been able to distract him from them and get him to hit her instead for some time.  She shuddered imagining what would happen to them if she weren’t there to shield them from a man she’d come to accept as an abusive monster. 

            Truth was, I felt a little stuck.  The guy didn’t have the swing he’d convinced her he had, but he would definitely be able to make a phone call to federal immigration authorities once he bonded out of jail.  If he was successful in his plans, she’d be deported and there would be no witness to confront him at trial.  The charges would have to be dropped, and he’d reign supreme and unchallenged over two little boys.  This did not feel like justice. 

            That’s when I learned about the U-visa.  U-visas are a direct extension of the federal Violence Against Women Act of 1994.  Several strategies were employed under this act including more police officer training, more shelters and long-term housing for victims of domestic violence, and more funding for batterer’s intervention programs across the country.  The U-visa has turned out to be a nifty little idea designed to keep witnesses of violent or felony crimes in this country so that they can participate in removing hardened criminals from communities without having to worry about deportation. 

            The short version of how this works is that if an undocumented immigrant witnesses a serious crime, he or she has the opportunity to petition the U.S. government for the visa, which protects them from the deportation process during the length of the investigation and through prosecution.  For assisting in removing say, a drug dealer from the streets, a gang member, or a violent or sexual predator, they are then afforded a chance at staying in this country long enough to earn naturalized citizenship. 

            This is not instant citizenship, and the whole process can still take years, but it offers a real incentive for someone who is frightened and fed up to come forward and be offered a whole basket of protections.  Witnesses to crimes are already afforded police protection and protection under state and federal law, and now they can also be protected from removal from the country.  This is obviously good for them because they don’t have to hide or cringe every time they see a cop, and it is good for law enforcement because we keep a witness that will help us restore or maintain safe streets and homes. 

            The obvious crack in this plan is that some people might manufacture a witness statement for the sole purpose of initiating a U-visa application.  The only thing I can tell you is that there will always be flaws in a government bureaucracy, but this plan and process proves valuable time and time again.  Yes, some people might try to scam the system, but it would be a risky move to make up a story about felony crimes and hope it stuck all the way through the conviction phase, because any discovery of illegitimacy would likely result in criminal charges and rapid deportation.  Also, the victim advocates who generally make the referral tend to be very discerning in filing the U-visa applications and requesting the assistance of their local law enforcement agencies in completing the documentation.  Those advocates don’t want to be seen as sending undeserving applicants our way, so they are often more strict and hesitant to file than are we. 

            The forms are a little long and tedious.  Fortunately for us, law enforcement’s portion is short and simple.  We are asked to sign a document confirming that the applicant was an important part of our investigation, and that he or she cooperated fully with that investigation.  We then usually attach our police reports related to the matter and send it off for processing.  This is a good thing because law enforcement officers tend to have too many pieces of paper on their desks anyway, so something we can sign and move out in two minutes makes us happy. 

            Make no mistake; if you are a violent criminal, a sexual predator, a thief, or a drug dealer, I want you gone.  I want you in jail for your sentence and immediately deported afterwards.  I want to know everything about you, including what friends and family you have in the area so my colleagues and I can round you up even faster if you ever sneak back in our country.  I want Immigration officials to take a wife or child batterer as seriously as a member of an organized criminal conspiracy, and I want your life to be absolutely miserable while you scurry around in my country, trying to evade detection while preying on others. 

            However, if you’re a decent human being who somehow made it here from some other country in the simple hope of creating a better life for yourself or your children, I don’t want you to have to go about your day afraid of the police.  Yes, I want you to apply for documentation and be identified (just as we are through social security, taxes, driver’s licenses, etc.).  And, yes, I want you to go through the proper, admittedly long and bureaucratic process to earn citizenship here, just as I would if I were to choose to seek citizenship in another country.  My new home country deserves that respect and show of allegiance. 

Regardless of how or when you are identified, I want the message to be loud and clear that the police should and generally do recognize the difference between the severity of an undocumented worker and a drug dealer or a child molester.  You just can’t reasonably put them in the same category.  It would be like comparing a person speeding in her car to a person who steals cars.  If you want to get anywhere with the intricate, deeply entrenched problems associated with immigration, you have to start from a foundation of common sense and respect for the diverse human condition.  When you have that, you can participate in making sound, humane decisions that have the potential to improve individual lives, families, and entire communities. 

People who are afraid and being preyed upon need police assistance.  The alternative is for them to live in a form of slavery or to raise arms themselves in a form of vigilante justice.  Many street gangs around today were formed as a result of a need for greater protection coupled with a lack of faith in local police.  Neither of the alternatives is acceptable, so some mechanism for allowing oppressed people to come forward has to be allowed.  Currently a part of that mechanism can be realized through the U-visa program and through police agencies and officers able to exercise discretion when it comes to reaching for the greater good. 

Rape In The Home

Venus yields to caresses, not compulsion.

Publilius Syrus

There is perhaps no case more difficult to prosecute than that of domestic rape.  Convincing a jury of twelve people beyond a reasonable doubt that a man raped his wife is a high mountain to climb even in this twenty-first century.  Rape within intimate partners happens, though, and I suspect it happens far more often than we know.
Consider the fact that when you are talking about a domestic violence situation, you are always factoring in a significant level of power and control.  A man who beats his wife does so in order to manipulate and terrorize her.  The same can be said of rape in any context.  A man who attacks and rapes a woman on a jogging trail or during a home invasion does so out of little if any real interest in sex, and more out of a driving desire to control, degrade, and terrorize her.  The same is true for most of the invading hoards throughout history.  Raping and pillaging are synonymous with warfare, in part because victors get the spoils, but also because the victors have waged the war so that they can control another person or group and use the resources of that other party as they see fit.  Rape, whether it be done by a bloodied soldier berserk with the fact that he lived through the battle, a stranger who grabbed a person into the darkest foliage of a city park, or a man beating his wife and then prying her thighs open to impale her is all about control and violence.
Where the waters often get muddied is in the fact that marriage is generally assumed to involve some amount of sexual activity.  Yes, women empowerment has prospered at an astounding rate within my lifetime, but I think most would agree that there is in our culture some expectation that a wife have sex with her husband once in a while.  The truth is that many men and women truly believe that wives have an obligation to lay with their husbands periodically.  

How often this occurs is often a subject of negotiation or debate.  Who remembers the 1977 Woody Allen movie, Annie Hall in which Woody Allen’s character, Alvy Singer, and his wife’s character, Annie Hall, played by Diane Keaton are shown talking to their respective therapists on a split screen?  The two characters are asked how often they have sex with their spouse.  Alvy Singer replies, “Hardly ever…maybe three times a week.”  Annie Hall replies, “Constantly.  I’d say three times a week.”  

In those two lines, a whole culture’s take on spousal obligations and expectations is summed up hilariously, but I believe it is so funny because behind those lines there is a biting hint of the darkness and frustration inherent in many marriages.  If you watch just about any situation comedy on television nowadays in which married couples playfully joust for the camera and audience, there is almost always some continuing thread of a joke in which the husband tries to cajole the wife into more playtime in bed.  

However, any amusement one might find in the wheedling maneuvers for sex in movies or television turns quickly to something more related to a horror movie when the combination of “male entitlement,” driving power and control impulses, an already violent relationship, and a strong sexual impulse collide with a woman’s lack of desire and/or attempt to thwart her husband or boyfriend’s advances.  If you throw alcohol or drugs into the mix, a heated argument that he considers over but she does not, his intent to have “make up sex” and her firm resolve that he isn’t going to touch her yet, you have the natural science equivalent of a hungry bear whose trout was just stolen.  

Some of the worst attacks of a male on his wife or girlfriend I’ve ever investigated have involved some element of sex, either because he felt denied (and thus, disrespected) or because the ensuing rape was simply an extension of the battery itself.  Ironically, it is also one of the most under-reported crimes.  Often a victim will make a statement about the fact that she was threatened and beaten, but neglect to tell the part about how he forced her legs open and speared her vagina with his penis during the attack.  Clearly she didn’t want sex right then, and obviously it was forced.  That, by definition, is rape, but the act is infrequently reported due to embarrassment, a lack of knowledge that, yes, a wife can be raped by her husband, or simply because the investigating officer failed to ask.  

It’s important that police officers and medical staff members ask about sexual assault.  If there has been a domestic violence situation, and the violence occurred out of the eyesight of other witnesses, the question of rape needs to be broached at some point. This is a conversation held with a victim that must be done skillfully, sensitively, and thoroughly, but it should be explored any time there has been violence that was un-witnessed by others.  

If rape is alleged, in a domestic setting or otherwise, certain actions need to take place.  First and foremost, the victim needs to be seen by medical professionals and a sexual assault kit needs to be collected by a certified Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE).  It’s likely in a husband and wife scenario his DNA will be found within her vagina and other parts of her body.  His natural defense is that they had sex as husband and wife and, of course his DNA is going to be in there.  What should not be there, though, are wounds to her vagina and anal cavities, other bruises consistent with grabbing and holding, patterns of injuries associated with strangulation, heavy bruising on the buttocks and thighs from hard, repeated spankings, pulled out hair, and bite marks.  

Ah, but it was just “rough sex” he’ll say; trust me, that’s what he’ll say.  Weigh this statement with your own experience.  After sex, even playful rough sex, are you spent and satisfied, or do you get it into your head that you feel like calling the police and telling them what a violent jerk your partner is?  It doesn’t make sense that a woman who is lying in a hospital bed, sore and bleeding, telling a stranger, a police officer of all people, that her husband just beat and raped her if all that was involved was “rough sex.”  It is an insult to my intelligence and to good husbands and boyfriends everywhere that some controlling jerk damages this woman’s body and soul and then blames it on having a good time.  

There is another element of rape that often occurs during a false imprisonment incident.  In this situation a woman may choose to engage in sexual activity in order to calm a potentially violent situation or in order to negotiate her release from his custody in cases when he is refusing to let her go.  

False imprisonment generally happens when a guy realizes he’s gone too far.  He slapped his girlfriend around, and he suddenly realizes she’s mad enough to call the police this time.  He has to buy back some time, enough to be able to get her to forgive him.  What does he do?  He threatens to hurt her worse if she runs away or, in some cases, physically restrains her.  

In one case a gentleman strangled his girlfriend of three years after she found he had another “ex” girlfriend’s phone number in his cell phone.  She was miffed, and she let him know.  Then she told him she was going to call the other girlfriend and let her know he was dating both of them.  Guess what?  He didn’t like that idea, so he strangled her, broke her nose, and punched her in the area of her vagina.

She reached for her cell phone to call 911, and he ripped the phone into pieces.  She tried to make for the door, and he tackled her onto the couch--where he held her for the next eleven hours.  

Eleven hours of being held by a man who had made her nose and vagina bleed, made both of her eyes swell to the point of closing shut, her throat to hurt every time she swallowed.  Eleven hours of listening to him say how sorry he was and how it would never happen again if she’d just forgive him and, “Please, baby, please let me make love to you so I can show you how much I care about you.  Please baby…”

Eventually she gave in and, hell, what would you have done if you were in that much pain, and you couldn’t get away?  Within ten minutes of having sex with the man she walked out of his apartment under the bluff that she had to get to work.  She went to her mother’s, who got her medical care and then brought her right to the police station.  

In hostage negotiator’s lingo, she had successfully negotiated her own hostage release.   She got away and was able to get medical treatment and police assistance.  Of course, she had to get raped in order to get her freedom and safety back.  

The grim reality is that successful prosecutions in cases of rape involving husbands or live-in boyfriends are rare.  Almost all elements have to be in place: Outward signs of abuse, internal signs of vaginal trauma, a highly credible victim, and a confession from the husband; an unbiased witness wouldn’t hurt, either.  Without this nearly perfect package, it’s tough to get a lot of police officers and prosecutors to support an arrest warrant and prosecution.  Additionally, many defense attorneys will work to make her look like the smuttiest, most unfaithful, gold digging wife on the planet if she ever goes up on a witness stand.  You think rape trials are tough?  Imagine having one between two people going through a divorce.  

I lean in the direction of an aggressive arrest stance if reliable evidence is discovered to support the Victim’s allegations.  There are untold possibilities, and every case is different, but one example of a case supporting an arrest for rape would be if the victim is credible, she has clear signs of injury and bruising patterns consistent with being held against her will, and the suspect won’t give a statement.  

Yes, a suspect has the right to remain silent, and the fact that a man decides against making a statement to the police does not make him guilty.  However, if the Victim seems sincerely frightened, hurt and heartbroken, her statement is credible, and he offers no reply or evidence to refute her statement, a fair and impartial look at the facts at hand may well call for his arrest.  

That doesn’t imply that prosecution will be successful.  Again, a jury of twelve must be convinced that what an officers has arrested this man for really happened, and the fact that the husband or boyfriend exercised his Fifth Amendment right so as not to incriminate himself can’t be a sore subject at trial.  He did what he felt he needed to do; so did the victim, and so did the arresting officer.  

What value then is there to make an arrest if successful prosecution is going to be a gladiatorial fight to the finish?  First and foremost, the victimized woman knows that she was believed and that there are men and women who will stand with her through the whole process.  Having police officers, generally male police officers, care about her and protect her is empowering and uplifting.  The officers aren’t hurting her or emotionally assaulting her, they aren’t trying to have sex with her, and they ask nothing of her other than honesty and to follow their safety instructions.  Imagine having been a woman who has endured routine physical, emotional and sexual abuse coming in contact with a professional man wielding tremendous authority who focuses on her needs and safety.  In many cases, it is the first time in a woman’s adult life that someone has shown her she has value and is worthy of protection.  

Additionally, a solid arrest for rape may not make it all the way to trial, but it offers good leverage during any plea bargain stage.  Notice I said “solid” arrest.  Certainly police officers could tack on additional flimsy criminal offenses in any arrest situation in an attempt to manipulate a stiffer sentence later on down the road.  However, if the arrest charges are fair, and if they truly represent what the evidence is indicating, including a charge of rape has a way of allowing prosecutors to stand firm when it comes time to negotiating plea bargains.

Finally, a law enforcement community that shows they’ll aggressively pursue this type of crime gets a well-deserved reputation for being tough on known violent offenders.  That reputation can be an instrument of crime prevention as long as that tough-mindedness doesn’t extend into abusive practices.  I once worked a bank robbery case in which three men collaborated to hold up a little branch bank.  One of the men stated later that he’d tried in vain to talk his friends out of doing the deed.  During his statement he said, “I told them, you can’t rob a bank in this city.  Hell, they put you away for just slapping your girlfriend around here.  What do you think they’re going to do if we rob a bank?”  Alas, they robbed the bank anyway despite this man’s sage advice.  And, yes, we put them away.  

One fair word of caution:  An arrest for rape in any small to medium sized community is likely going to generate media exposure, bitterness and hatred between her family and friends and his, and it is definitely going to make for a long day on the witness stand for the victim.  She’ll be grilled by defense attorneys in a way that some feel is akin to being raped all over again, this time in public.  In short, ugly things happen when a rape arrest occurs, and it is only fair to discuss these issues with the victim before any action is taken; she needs to know what she’s getting into.  By the same token, this is the time when a lot of women become stronger than they’ve ever been before.  They get to participate in stopping a rapist from ever hurting another woman.  They have the support of an entire police department and prosecutorial team, victim advocates, medical and mental health professionals and, in many cases, a new lease on life.  The achievement of greatness doesn’t come without challenge, and this is one place in which a person who has lived life as a victim can surprise herself and everyone else by rising to the occasion and fighting back.  She should know she doesn’t have to do it alone.  

Strangulation

Strangulation is so important, such an extraordinary leap in the level of violence and danger when talking about domestic violence that it deserves a post of its very own.  When I see a strangulation case cross my desk, it becomes a priority investigation because this one factor raises the stakes to a level just under homicide.  Indeed, we’ve had some cases that were actually able to be prosecuted as attempted murder or attempted rape due to the fact that the suspect put his hands around the victim’s throat and squeezed hard enough to make her pass out, all the while growling, “I’m going to kill you.” 

It’s important to understand that the vast majority of strangulation cases don’t result in death.  Most strangulation incidents occur in a flash and generally only last a few seconds.  When the word strangulation is used, most people have an image of a person using a length of rope, a belt or, if you’re talking about Hollywood, piano wire. 

In the case of strangulation in a domestic violence situation, what is far more typical is that a man grabs a woman with one or both hands and squeezes to the point that she can’t breathe and her vision starts to go dark from a lack of adequate blood flow to the brain.  This is all going on in the context of threats and other acts of violence, so there is every reason for the victim to believe she is about to die.  If any article is actually used, it is often a pillow or a wet towel shoved down onto her face hard enough to create a sense of drowning, sometimes with enough force to actually break her nose and bones in the face. 

There are few things more intimidating than the thought of dying by suffocation.  Victims will talk of being “choked” by their attacker and describe their vision fading and narrowing as if they are looking into a tiny tunnel.  Humans tend to keep hearing things even after their vision has left, and victims frequently report that they could hear the batterer snarling or cursing even as they thought they were dying. 

Choking, by the way, is the term generally used by victims to describe strangulation.  Technically, choking is what happens when something blocks your windpipe from the inside such as a piece of food.  Strangulation is the act of squeezing the throat from the outside, which often results in the clamping off of major blood vessels and the airway.  Whether a victim says choked or strangled is less important than understanding just how dangerously violent this offense truly is. 

This particular act is statistically 99% male on female, and strangulations most often occur at the moment when a woman is denying the man something.  That could be denial of sex, respect, her (as in when she’s leaving), or some item he is demanding such as her cell phone. 

What that means is that strangulation is one of the ultimate control techniques.  In police work, we are all taught what some might refer to as “choke holds” in one form or another.  In recent years modifications in the old school style of police chokeholds have made the techniques less dangerous, but they are still only to be used in the event that a bad guy is about to get the better of us if we don’t try something drastic. 

It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to see how this thing plays out; they argue, she says she’s leaving, he orders her to stay, she grabs her purse, he yanks it away, she slaps him and turns to head out the door, he grabs her and then encircles her throat with his hands. 

“You’re not leaving.  I’ll kill you before you leave me.”  He squeezes, sees her eyes open in absolute terror and, in most cases, shoves her down to the floor right before she goes completely unconscious. 

This accomplishes two things.  First, the actual physical fight is probably pretty much over right about then.  I went through a near-drowning incident once during a training exercise in a river rescue course.  The river tried to swallow me at one point, and it was a little dicey for a few minutes until my comrades got rope to me and dragged my butt out of the current.  Let me tell you, I felt pretty stupid, extremely fortunate to be working with the extraordinary men and women who saved my life, and completely meek and empty of spunk.  I had used up all my fight in the river, and there wasn’t much left in me at all.  When I apply that feeling to what a woman must feel right after she’s just been through her own fight with suffocation, I feel certain that whatever fire she had in her belly was all but extinguished at the moment she thought she was dying from one of the most terrifying methods of death imaginable. 

The second result is that the man has shown her in no uncertain terms that he absolutely controls her life.  Remember the power and control wheel phenomenon from a previous chapter?  For a few seconds there, he literally held her life in his hands.  It was his to do with as he chose.  He chose not to take it, and don’t think for a second he won’t remind her of that in subtle ways in the hours and weeks to come.  How euphoric and god-like to control the destiny of another human being when you are, by your very nature, a person who craves control. 

One of the more ridiculous and dangerous strangulation cases I ever worked involved a giant of a man with the musculature of a professional wrestler.  The man was entirely solid, strong as a tractor, and as selfishly dense as a two-year-old. 

The problem at hand was that his girlfriend got pregnant, a fate he equated with the destruction of his dream to play pro football.  In an argument over what was to be done about the situation, he demanded that she have an abortion.  She refused, so he struck her with one of his enormous paws while repeatedly reminding her that she wasn’t going to get any of his football career money.  She, you should know, weighed not quite one-hundred pounds, and the top of her head came to about the middle of his rib cage, so his blow sent her tumbling backwards. 

He’d slapped her before, but she told us this was the first time he’d ever hit her “like a man,” and she decided she’d have none of it.  “Fine,” she said, “I’ll raise our baby on my own, but you’re going to pay child support,” at which point she grabbed her purse and made to indignantly leave his apartment forever. 

He responded by tackling her.  Tackling her! And she fell in a crushed petite mess on the cement porch outside.  At that point he decided it wouldn’t be good for the neighbors to see all this, so he dragged her back in by the hair and shut his door.  Yes, I said by the hair, and any image you may have just flashed upon having to do with cavemen dragging women captured in raids on other villages is entirely apropos. 

About that time he questioned whether or not he was even the father of the child, insinuating that she had been “slutty” and therefore might have gotten pregnant from someone else.  She had not, in fact, been with any other man, ever, and the fact that the father of her unborn child was accusing her of such hurt her to the core.  It made her pretty pissed, too, and she responded by slapping him as hard as her little pixie-sized hand could muster. 

At which point the pounding began.  He never hit her in the face, a fact he repeatedly pointed out to me later, as if this somehow made everything okay.  He did, however, punch her repeatedly in the pelvis in an undisguised attempt to prompt a spontaneous abortion.  After four or five ferocious blows to her lower stomach and vaginal area she was able to roll into a little ball, all the while bawling hysterically and trying like hell to cover her head, ribs and pelvis all at the same time.

I suppose we’ll never know why he made the transition from raining down blows to grabbing her by the throat, but that’s eventually what he did.  We know from talking to both of them later that she had the wherewithal to try to dial 911 with her cell phone, even as he was hitting her repeatedly, and it became clear to us that she had tried hard to keep the phone from him by grasping it to her chest with both hands and holding onto it like it was her only lifeline in the most horrific of stormy seas.  It was, and you’ll be gratified to know that the rest of this attack was recorded and overheard by the emergency call-taker at the 911 Center. 

His response to her using her phone and trying to keep it from him was to wrestle the phone from her grip and throw it across the room (though it still continued to record), and then show her how frustrated he was with her actions by grasping her little neck in his gigantic hands and trying to squeeze the life out of her. 

Maybe something in her bulging eyes, or the fact that she was gurgling and clearly not moving air in and out of her lungs made him pause long enough to realize he was killing her and stop.  He was still calling her a slut and cursing her loudly enough for the responding officers to hear him through the front door when they arrived a couple of minutes later.  

But he never hit her in the face.  Good lad. 

The thing about manual strangulation is that the injuries often don’t show up on the neck right away.  If someone used a rope, piano wire, a shoestring, or an electrical cord, the wound patterns are generally visible and distinctive.  Often you can even pick out the pattern of the braid in a cord or the exact shape of the wire used.  When hands are the tools used to squeeze the throat, it is actually more often than not that external bruising doesn’t occur.  This becomes problematic for police officers who are looking for visible evidence such as redness, bruising or swelling around the neck, especially when the victim is tanned or darker skinned.

The human throat is designed to give a bit so that all those vital things on the inside such as large arteries, the trachea and larynx, esophagus, and cervical spine have a little wiggle room when carnivores try to clamp down on that area with large jaws.  This extra room is what leads to turkey necks and cosmetic surgeries for neck lifts in later years.  It is also a simplified reason for why this area of the body doesn’t visibly bruise dramatically as opposed to the areas over arms, ribs and cheeks where squeezing, grabbing and punching result in small blood vessels being smashed between the force and bone.  

For this reason, bruises around the neck and throat should be given extra attention, because this is a clear sign that the force exerted when the attacker was squeezing was extraordinary.  However, the absence of bruising doesn’t mean strangulation didn’t occur, and thorough investigators will ask additional questions when a victim reports she has been “choked.” 

There are three basic areas to explore when asking questions about the effects of strangulation.  First, it is important to clearly understand what was going on inside her head as her throat was being squeezed shut.  Statements such as, “I thought I was going to die,” or, “I knew he was going to kill me this time,” are pretty compelling and should be part of the police report to show how frightened she was by this action. 

Next, it is imperative that questions pertaining to her pain during and after the event be asked.  A statement such as, “It felt like my neck bones were getting ready to snap,” is a chilling testimony to how far the abuser went that day.  If it hurts her to swallow or take a deep breath, turn her neck, or be touched around her neck or throat after the incident is over, it is critical to the investigation and prosecution that this be recorded in a police report.  It is equally important that this information be documented by medical staff, both for the sake of making sure she gets the proper medical attention and care she needs, and also for the purpose of having medical records that can be used to prosecute the batterer at a later date.

Finally, investigators and medical staff need to know if the victim suffered or is suffering any ill effects from the strangulation such as sore throat, hoarseness, headache, visual disturbances, dizziness, or weakness in the arms or legs. 

Which brings us to a very important element often overlooked in strangulation cases, and that is the need to get the victim examined and treated by medical personnel.  The absence of bruising and swelling on the outside doesn’t necessarily mean there isn’t bruising and swelling going on internally, and one place you definitely don’t want swelling from the inside out is your throat.  A victim who has mild sore throat or hoarseness at the crime scene might well suffocate from advanced internal swelling hours later, so even mild symptoms following a violent strangulation attack must be medically assessed as a priority. 

Police officers, friends and family members of strangulation victims need to strongly encourage and urge her to seek medical attention after such an episode.  Obviously no one can make a victim see a doctor, but the importance of doing so relative to her own safety, the emotional well-being of her worried friends and family members, and to the elements of a successful prosecution should all be stressed when trying to convince her that she needs to be seen right away. 

Yes, it is a hassle to go to an emergency room and, yes, she might get billed by the hospital and, yes, she may not make it to work on time if she goes and, yes, someone other than her will have to take care of her children for a few hours--and yes, her life and long-term health are worth it. 

Strangulation is serious business, and it is far more common than most people ever imagine.  An attack that involves a strangulation episode, even one lasting just a few seconds, represents a dramatic escalation in the level of violence, control, and threat to life, and it should be treated as such by victims, police officers, employers, friends and family, victim advocates, prosecutors, judges and juries.  

When Victims Kill

Other sins only speak; murder shrieks out.

James Webster

When is the best time to kill a vampire?  While they’re asleep in their coffin, right?  We’ve all seen the movies in which a brave soul sneaks into a gothic mansion, creeps down into a terrifying basement to find the casket, and ultimately plunges a wooden stake into the beast’s wicked heart.  The hero saves her community, herself, and even the soul of the hellish monster in one mallet driven stroke.  She emerges from the castle into daylight, and somehow we know her life will never be the same.  She grew stronger and wiser in the process, and she has gained a newfound sense of courage and drive that will enrich her life. 

            Now, when is the best time to kill a beastly intimate partner who beat the crap out of you earlier that night, indicated he might kill you next time, and then passed out drunk on the couch?  While he’s sleeping, right?  Just like the heroine in the vampire movie, you could rid your life of a man who is literally sucking your vitality and thirst for life right out of your body.  You have an opportunity as he lies there snoring and flatulent to remove this violent waste from the world forever, and all it will take is one mighty swing of that claw hammer you just retrieved from his tool cabinet.  You know, the cabinet he bought with the money you’d saved to buy the kids some clothes for the new school year. 

            Just do it, you think!  Slam the claw end down hard right into his temple and end his evil reign.  I’ll be free and the world will be safer.  He doesn’t deserve to live after all he’s done, and I certainly won’t be able to live my life as long as he’s alive.  Control my breathing, get my pulse under control, and kill the beast before he wakes. 

            Except, of course, that you’d be committing murder, and your own life would be forfeit. 

            In every state of this country allowances are made in the law that permit individuals to defend themselves if they are under attack, or to defend someone else if they are under attack.  This is what allows police officers to intervene on a stranger’s behalf if that person is in danger, and it is what allows, say, a woman who is being throttled by her boyfriend to crack him in the head with a baseball bat to get him to remove his hands from her throat before he kills her. 

            What is not allowed is outright murder or, in most cases, turning defensive actions into offensive ones.  For example, let’s say you are walking through a park at night and a man grabs you and tries to pull you into some bushes so that he can rape you.  In response you might pull out a canister of pepper spray, a pistol, or a knife with which to defend yourself.  For the purposes of discussion, let’s say you’re the one with the pepper spray, and you hose this bad fish down with the whole damn can.  He’s instantly blinded, and he falls to the ground writhing in agony.  (Go team!  The good guys are winning.)

            At this point you’re faced with three choices.  Choice one is to run like hell and call 911.  Choice two is to try to take him into custody as a citizen’s arrest.  Choice three is you beat the snot out of the guy for all the pain he has brought on the world, exacting justice and even insuring, in a limited way, domestic tranquility once you’re done with him. 

            For the record, choice one is probably your best bet.  Unless you are trained and ready to actually take somebody into custody, you’re much safer to just get away from the sobbing fellow and call for police as soon as you’re at a safe distance.  Choice three (the beating the hell out of him option) would certainly be the most gratifying, but at some point you will probably have crossed the line from simply defending yourself to becoming an offender. 

            Now, to be completely honest, most cops would chuckle if they knew you’d taken a few whacks at the guy.  They certainly understand how fear and adrenaline drives people to get in a few extra licks, and any time we see a little person getting the better of a bully, we tend to be amused.  However, you need to understand that vigilante justice is viewed dimly by the criminal justice system, and each additional kick or whack with a stick exposes you to increased criminal and civil liability.  In other words, you could get arrested or the guy could turn around and sue you later. 

            We’ve all seen video of cops abusing a guy who just led them on a high-speed pursuit or resisted arrest. The adrenaline is pumping, and it is easy to get into the mindset of demanding a little street justice before the guy is carted off to jail.  It’s wrong, of course, and those beatings are a stain on my profession that I resent greatly, but I certainly know that feeling of wanting to let the thug know he should never, ever do what he just did again. 

            Those videos play again and again on television and the Internet, and they often lead to a community outcry focusing on police brutality and calling for overhauls of the police department, firings of the officers involved, and additional training.  These measures might well be valid and healthy for a department if the video footage demonstrates a department-wide sensibility and not just the actions of a rogue cop who went too far.  It is just as likely that such video presents the cop’s actions out of context and don’t include all of the suspect’s actions leading up to the arrest and struggle.  I’m just asking that everyone--media, public, police investigators, and judges--present the entire story before passing judgment. 

Regardless, the scrutiny of the media and the public serve to remind us that vigilante justice is unacceptable. Just as it is true that while police officers are allowed to defend themselves and victims of abuse must be afforded the same consideration, it is also true that as police officers are expected to uphold the law during even the most trying of moments, citizens must be expected to do the same.

            In other words, unless you are defending yourself in a moment of violence, you don’t get to act as judge and jury toward another human being, even if that person is wicked and will probably be dangerous toward you in the future.  As expedient as it might seem to plunge the wooden stake into the heart of a vicious monster of a batterer might be we, as a culture that values the sanctity of fair investigation and due process, cannot abide by anything else. 

            Ellen had lived with her husband Robert for over twelve years before I ever met her.  The police had been called to her house three times before the night my team and I first got involved in her life.  All three previous instances involved hints and allegations that Robert had victimized her in some fashion, but Ellen evidently never would cooperate with the responding officers or make a disclosure about what he’d been doing to her. 

            It is fair to say that Ellen had opportunities to get help and, whether because of fear, loyalty, dread of losing Robert’s significant finances, or just shortsightedness, Ellen never took advantage of those offers. 

            So one night Ellen shot him while he slept.  Then Ellen recruited her brother-in-law to help her dispose of the body, promising Robert’s little brother half of Robert’s assets once the dust settled.  Robert’s little brother was a meth-head and far more loyal to his addiction than Robert.  I’ve often wondered over the years if Ellen and Little Brother had a thing going behind Robert’s back, but I guess we’ll never know. 

            Ellen and Little Brother hauled Robert downstairs and wrapped him in plastic bubble wrap and blankets so that when they were done Robert looked like a great big burrito.  And then, for whatever reason, Little Brother just left him down there in the garage. 

            Several days later Ellen started to figure out that Little Brother was out of his mind, and I think it started to dawn on her that he might just get it into his head to get rid of her as well so that he wouldn’t have to share a single penny.  This must have irritated Ellen greatly because it was her original plan, after all.  One might assume that Ellen would take the initiative to rid herself of Little Brother as well, but that would still leave her with the body disposal problem.  The problem, by the way, was growing steadily more cumbersome because Little Brother’s girlfriend moved into the house and brought her toddler daughter.  Oh, and Robert was starting to melt inside the burrito, and no amount of deodorizer, baking soda, and lye was going to keep covering the resultant smell from seeping out into the quiet little neighborhood. 

            Ellen had to take drastic action, and so four days after she killed her husband she walked into a police station in a completely different city and made a sobbing confession about how she’d had to kill her husband before he killed her. 

            Ellen also told the officers that Little Brother was heavily armed, extremely paranoid, and decidedly unwilling to be taken to jail.  She didn’t mention the toddler or the girlfriend, but I’m sure she had other things on her mind. 

            Given the nature of the crime, the fact that the house was situated in the small, peaceful neighborhood, and the knowledge that Little Brother would probably not come out of the house willingly, a decision was made early on that the Emergency Response Team (also known as SWAT) would make entry into the house in the middle of the night with the hope that Little Brother would be asleep and could be taken quickly by surprise. 

            One might argue after the fact that we could have captured the guy as he ran errands or went out to lunch at some point in the future, but we knew we were dealing with an accomplice to murder who was reportedly wigged out on crystal meth, heavily armed and had nothing to lose in trying to flee in a car chase or shoot it out with police right in the middle of the subdivision.  Our SWAT team was well practiced and experienced, and it was simply expected that the team would be able to “take” the house and make it safe in less than ten seconds. 

            I was a medic for the team in those days.  My job was to be as close to the team as possible and to render emergency treatment in the event that an officer went down under fire until the scene could be made safe for ambulance paramedics to come in and take over.  It was an awesome responsibility I was very proud to have had in those days.  The assignment afforded me very close-up views to the precision and discipline of that team of men, and I was able to be right on the front lines as they served warrants on some of the most dangerous of criminals. 

            Until that night I’d never seen any of them get shot at or have any experience other than complete, dramatic, and lightening fast success. That night, however, Little Brother, who was wide-awake on a meth binge, started shooting as soon as the first man entered the house, despite the fact that his girlfriend and her child were in the home.  A round went through the side of the house and struck the home across the street hard enough that the family inside heard the thump and felt the vibration. 

            The men that went in Ellen’s house that night deserve incredible praise because instead of spraying the retreating bastard with automatic rifle fire they realized within a tenth of a second that two innocents were inside as well.  They could have justifiably opened up on him right through the sheetrock walls, but they hunkered down, got the woman and her child out, and then talked Little Brother into surrendering. 

            And then we made the grizzly discovery of wrapped-up-Robert in the basement. 

            The rest of the story is fairly benign.  Ellen and Little Brother both picked up guilty verdicts, and both are slated to spend the majority of the rest of their lives behind bars.  It didn’t need to be that way, of course.  Ellen was most certainly frightened of Robert, and if she had taken any of the several opportunities offered to her for help she might have actually found her freedom and not had to stoop to murder to do so. 

            Some may frown at me for saying so, but I don’t have a lot of sympathy for Ellen.  Part of her motivation was greed, plain and simple.  She lived in a city in which the police really did care and would certainly have gotten her out of harms way and into a safer environment if she had worked with us even a little bit.  Instead, her solution was to kill a man while he slept, and then collaborate with his own brother to rid her house of his rotting corpse and split his money.  Robert was an asshole, I imagine, but she was a murdering, greedy bitch. 

            There have been other women, though, who have felt so trapped, so alienated by friends and family, and so let down by the police and court’s systems, that they have honestly come to the conclusion that killing their sleeping or defenseless spouse is akin to self defense.  I can’t help but wonder if they were, in fact, let down by the local police agency and, if so, could one proactive, supportive cop have made the difference? 

            The only honest answer to that question is--maybe.  And if the answer is maybe, then we as police officers, and we as communities are duty bound to do everything in our power to help victims of violence in the home have better choices for their life than the taking of another’s.  Ellen was flat wrong in what she did, but if a woman like Ellen asks for help and doesn’t get it, maybe she’ll come up with the idea that no other choice exists.  If her friends tell her to leave him without offering a couch or an alternative place for her to go; if the police tell her there’s nothing they can do; if the shelters are full and a social worker doesn’t take the time to help her come up with a Plan B; if the judge won’t give her an order of protection because she got stage fright at the hearing and couldn’t tell him why she was afraid of this man; and if the suspect himself keeps haunting and torturing her and telling her again and again that he might just kill her next time, maybe she’ll just one night decide there is never going to be a next time.  If that happens, we all have to bear some of the responsibility for the resultant course of events.  

Shifting Loyalties

Years ago when I was on patrol I routinely drove through the parking lots of nightclubs right around closing time.  The presence of a prowling squad car cut way down on the fights reminded exiting patrons that it might be a good idea to hire a taxi to get home instead of having to deal with me and a drunk driving arrest.

            One night I was cruising through the lot of a particularly notorious country-western themed club.  Some of the people waved, a few made pig noises, but in general everyone was relatively well behaved enough that I was heading toward the exit.  The music was still thumping loud enough I could actually feel it as opposed to just hearing it, and a mass exodus of people in all manners of “cowboy” dress and levels of intoxication were spilling out.  The air was a heavy mix of perfumes and body odor, and the chatter melted into a festive buzz. 

All of a sudden dozens of people started pointing toward the back of the club, and there was a frantic tension to the gestures.   I told the dispatch center that I was heading around to the back of the building to check out a possible fight, and I heard a fellow officer say over the radio that he would start heading my way to back me up. 

A crowd had gathered, and as I rounded the corner I saw a man pummeling a woman who was curled up in a ball on the ground, trying desperately to cover her head as he threw a hailstorm of blows and screamed in her ear.  He had a knee on her back making it difficult of her to move, and none of the “cowboys” were moving to help. 

I yelled, “Police!” as I yanked him off, and he stumbled sideways off her for a few seconds.  He was back up before I even had my handcuffs out, and I distinctly remember thinking, “Oh, crap.” He was gigantic.  I know storytellers have a tendency to embellish the size of the fish that got away or the level of threat from an enemy, but this guy was the size of an elevator door—honest. 

Have you ever seen one of those rodeo contests in which several spectators volunteer to play “Cowboy Poker?”  The rules are simple.  The volunteers sit around a poker table that has been placed in the center of the arena.  A very angry bull is released into said arena, and in a matter of seconds all but one or two of the idiots at the table run for the fences.  A couple of even less bright individuals will stay seated at the table, because the one to stay seated longest wins.  Of course, the entire time they’re exposed to an enraged beast comprised entirely of gristle, horns and hate whose testicles were sharply yanked just prior to his arena entrance gate being opened. 

Now, I’m not too big an idiot, and I most definitely wanted to be one of the less stupid fellows who run for it, but the problem was that my enraged bull had just been trying to stomp the brains out of the woman who was still lying in a fetal position, sobbing and bleeding near the edge of the loose circle of onlookers¾who were still on-looking. 

So, I didn’t have much of a choice.  I had to stay at the table and try to avoid this man’s horns.  My advantages were that I was sober, armed and a little bit faster than him.   Nonetheless, I really wanted the other officer to hurry up. 

Now if you know anything at all about police work, you know I was wearing a gun, a nightstick, and pepper spray.  This was in the days before electronic Tasers, so that wasn’t an option.  The thing was, he got up so fast I didn’t even have time to grab for the spray or the baton, and for the next minute or so he and I shoved and growled at each other all over the parking lot.  I remember briefly flying at one point. 

Finally I got him in an off balance moment, and I was able to send him rolling sideways.  This worked great because, as luck would have it, he hit his head on a car fender as he went down.  It rang his bell just enough that his fight was over, and I moved with all speed to handcuff him.  Right about the time I got the second cuff on his wrist (which was, by the way, as thick as a softball¾honest), the woman who had been crying in her little puddle of blood climbed onto my back and began clawing me from front to back. 

At this point the whole scene went from being a crowd enthralling gutter fight to slapstick as I flailed around the same parking lot trying valiantly to remove the shrieking harpy from my flanks, all the while doing my best to keep from actually hurting her.

My partner arrived about the time I was finally able to remove her and within seconds of being arrested she slipped into a sleepy calm.  She went from Iron Maiden to cuddly in twenty seconds, and it didn’t take much longer than that for the crowd to disperse.  The show was over. 

Loyalty is a quirky thing.  It keeps men from running away in battle, makes us feel defensive when someone insults our family or heritage, and occasionally makes us cruel or even violent toward people who are trying to help us. 

In this woman’s case, I’ll never know if her loyalty stemmed from fear of this man trying to kill her, love of the same man, hatred of police, or loathing of the person taking her man’s freedom away.  Regardless, she fought like a lioness for a man who had just tortured and mocked her, and though that story will always be a vivid one for me, the issue of misplaced loyalty is one that has come up thousands of times in my cases over the years. 

One of the most constant themes we address in domestic violence investigations has to do with the revolving door pattern of abuse, separation, reconciliation, and back to abuse.  In the circle of professionals throughout law enforcement, social work, victim advocacy, prosecution, and health care, this pattern is called the Cycle of Violence (see November 2010). 

Often a woman is very angry with her abusive partner at the time the police arrive, and officers frequently hear that she wants to “press charges” to the fullest extent of the law.  However, it is just as common that officers and prosecutors learn that the victim has gone back to the abuser within hours, days or weeks of the violence, and that she is now his greatest supporter. 

In an upcoming post on substance abuse I’ll make an argument that the use and abuse of alcohol and illegal drugs is often directly tied into violent relationships, either as a way for oppressed individuals to cope with the hell of their lives, as a tool used by the controlling personality to manipulate his or her victim, or as a chemical catalyst for touching off angry, violent episodes in situations that might otherwise have remained peaceful. 

There is often another form of addiction in these relationships, and that is the addiction to the relationship itself.  I think we can generally agree that it feels good to fall in love or to make up and renew a love, so good in fact, that some people unconsciously sabotage their otherwise positive relationships just so they can experience that wonderful vibe again.  Actual chemical reactions occur within the brain when humans feel passion, and anyone who has ever felt that knows that it is as alluring as crack cocaine must be to a junky.  So, too, is the sense that being with someone, even someone who treats you like dung is preferable to some people than the loathing they feel for loneliness.

I think this often holds true for a tremendous number of women involved in a domestic violence situation.  Remember that she has often been belittled and emotionally battered along with her physical injuries for a very long time.  Yes, he beats her, but she can often recognize the developing tension for what it will become and either take steps to calm him down (such as through sex), or at least be somewhat prepared when the hitting starts. 

            If, however, you have come to believe that you are as worthless and unappealing as he’s told you, how is it possible for you to conceive that another man would A) want you, and B) treat you well?  Given that, I can imagine a lot of scenarios in which a battered woman believes so deeply that she can never “do better,” accepting her lot in life as simply a hardship to bear along with low pay, sick children, or menstrual pain. 

            People latch onto awful causes and swear fealty to cruel and arrogant leaders, often for reasons so odd we fail to fully understand their logic.  Look at the followers of Jim Jones, David Koresch, or any dictator bent on ethnic cleansing throughout history and you get a feel for how powerful and intense an ill-gotten loyalty can truly be. 

            I don’t pretend to understand fully why someone would be loyal to a person who routinely terrorizes them, other than to point out that loyalty in its purest form is one of the more redeeming qualities, sadly manipulated by cruel, controlling people who thrive on the fact that there are people in his world who love, hate, revere and dread him so much that they will stand by him no matter what.  The only answer to that is a consistent, firm message from law enforcement, social work, medicine, judiciary, and communities in general that blindly following madness is madness, and then follow that message by offering paths to a different way. 

Addressing Threats

There are things that can be done in these situations that can allow a person to avoid the pitfalls associated with threats and to handle them in a logical, successful manner.  One of those strategies could include using the criminal justice system to help, and I strongly believe this is an important tool when one person is threatening another.  Being aware of what threats might come, and what they mean when they do allows victims and the friends and loved-ones of victims to participate more intelligently and supportively in their own defense.  People living in a situation in which threats are being made should generally come forward and expect a high level of support and expertise from their police agency. 

There isn’t much point to preparing for prosecution if you don’t take care of the most important aspect of the case which is, of course, making sure the person making the threats can’t follow through.  Police protection is a valuable thing, indeed, though I know of very few agencies with the manpower to devote around the clock protective services in most cases.  It happens in the direst circumstances, but this is rare. 

I once spent part of a semester in a kindergarten classroom acting as part of a team charged with keeping a man from kidnapping a child he had previously molested.  The man was out on bond, and he’d made his intentions to take the child and flee to another country very clear.  I reviewed primary colors, shapes and the alphabet for days, played a lot of four-square, and felt a lot of pride when that child was still happily sitting in his classroom after the man was finally sent off to prison. 

Round the clock protection is nearly impossible for most agencies in most situations.  This is an unfortunate result of tight budgets leading to inadequate manpower, and the never-ending fountain of a thousand public safety and law enforcement duties to be performed each and every day.  However, there are things any police agency can handle.  Let’s say hypothetically that a batterer/stalker has been released from jail on a bail bond, and he’s made it clear that he has no intention of relenting in his efforts to terrorize and control his ex wife.  What are some of the things that can be done to keep her safe at least until trial? 

Extra Patrol

Extra patrol is exactly what it sounds like; officers are assigned to provide extra presence and surveillance of a residence or place of employment during periods when stalking is suspected.  There are four objectives for this.  First and foremost is to establish a clear demonstration that officers have taken the victim under their wing and that they’ll be looking out for her.  It’s important that officers not establish any pattern to the patrol other than send the message, “We’re around.”  Officers that entrench themselves in a regular pattern are easy for bad guys to figure out, and it doesn’t take much imagination to learn when to break into the ex girlfriend’s house at a time when the cops aren’t likely to be around. 

Another objective is simply to have officers familiarize themselves with a potential trouble spot so that their response time will drop dramatically if and when a call for emergency help comes in.  If you’ve ever been to a large apartment complex or residential neighborhood in which the apartment or house numbers are hidden or difficult to find on the side of a building, you know why this is important.  (Pizza delivery people just nodded their heads.) 

An additional objective is to offer some sense of relief and security for a stalking victim.  We get numerous reports from victims that they were finally able to get a decent night’s sleep because they knew the police were patrolling their area looking out for them.  Having two or three officers who routinely come to check on you, who know your case, and who have taken a genuine interest in your safety can make all the difference in the world in terms of a victim’s morale, fortitude, and anxiety level. 

Finally, every once in a while the timing is right and a cop catches someone in the act while doing a routine extra patrol.  A potentially serious crime is thwarted, peace and safety is restored, and the bad guy goes to the pokey.  That is considered a touchdown in my business. 

Civil Stand By’s

Civil stand by’s are controversial in law enforcement and not every agency does them.  In short, a civil stand by involves dispatching one or two officers to provide security while a person goes back to their former residence to collect certain belongings.  For example, a battery victim who has escaped a bad situation into a shelter may need to go back to the house to get her social security card or birth certificate.  Maybe she needs an important legal document or a few changes of clothes.  There are some things that are so important that people will risk another beating or worse just to retrieve them, and it is far better in my opinion to spend ten minutes offering a safe passage than to deal with the fallout of a brand new offense later.  Call it crime prevention. 

            Civil stand-by’s are not about moving furniture or arguing about who keeps the plasma TV.  They should be quick and clean; get what you need and get out.  Yes, a person who left the house for safety reasons may never again see a cherished dresser or lie again in a comfortable bed and, frankly, officers don’t have the time to spend while estranged couples quibble over possessions.  People throughout history have had to drop treasures too heavy or bulky to carry quickly while being pursued by oppressors, and it may just be that escaping a life of oppression in the home means leaving behind important, expensive items.  I’m not saying it’s fair, and I would hope those issues would be resolved in a legal, equitable process, but when we’re talking about a life or lives, leaving the stereo system behind doesn’t seem like such a sacrifice after all. 

            Agencies that provide a civil stand-by service generally limit their officers’ on-scene time to around ten or fifteen minutes.  Officers are not allowed to make decisions about property, so contested pieces must remain in the house.  Officers are not allowed to assist in the moving, so they shouldn’t be asked or expected to help hoist a couch or carry a suitcase.  Their job is to keep the peace, maintain everyone’s safety, eliminate false allegations, and keep the person retrieving items focused on priorities. 

Alarm Systems

Alarm systems are not generally dispensed by police agencies, but most agencies have the ability to help stalking victims access free alarm systems.  Unfortunately, most police agencies don’t even know they can do this.  I’m loath to plug any individual company, but fair credit is due ADT Alarms, a nationwide company with a long history of providing high quality systems and monitoring*.  ADT will provide an alarm system, free of charge, in homes for victims with documented stalking problems.  This service is called the ADT AWARE ® Program, standing for Abused Women’s Active Response Emergency, and it has quietly been adding another layer of protection and security for victims since 1992.  The victim must adhere to certain rules such as maintaining a valid order of protection and not allowing the perpetrator back into the home.  The local police agency or prosecutor’s office must acknowledge that the client is a victim of violence and/or stalking, that the stalker is at large, and that the victim is cooperating or has cooperated in any applicable investigation and prosecution. 

            In exchange for following these simple rules, ADT outfits a residence with entry alarms, security keypad, an emergency button worn on a necklace, glass-break detection, and twenty-four hour monitoring.  Free!  Do you understand how valuable that can be for a person who lives in dread that the person she most fears will eventually come and break down her door?  It makes a huge difference, and ADT should be proud of this community service. 

            I would encourage you to explore this possibility with your local police agency if you know of a person suffering the indignities of stalking.  I would also encourage local police agencies or prosecutors offices to explore the AWARE ® program with an ADT official.  Their website is www.adt.com, or you can locate a representative through a local ADT office. 

Surveillance Systems

In the very worst stalking cases, it is sometimes helpful to install surveillance systems able to provide video evidence of trespasses, acts of intentional damage to property, residential burglaries, and actual physical attacks on the victims.  The best kind of system is motion activated so that it is not recording all the time, and it is also important that the system be well hidden. 

            These systems are expensive, and it is infrequent that small to mid-range police and sheriff departments have one.  Fortunately, quite a few narcotics squads have such a system.  They use it, obviously, to track the comings and goings of dealers into suspected distribution sites, but the system is very usable in a stalking situation.  The challenge is usually getting the narcotics guys to let an officer investigating a stalking complaint use the equipment and setting it up.  Surveillance cameras and recorders are coveted because there aren’t enough systems to go around and buying more isn’t generally feasible. 

            One concept we used was to buy equipment out of some grant funds we received for the specific purpose of tracking sex offenders, especially those coming to meet police officers posing on the Internet as thirteen-year-olds. When the predators show up to what they believe is a sexual rendezvous, they are often videotaped from the moment they step out of their car using remote systems like we’ve described.  It was a fairly simple matter to coordinate the sharing of such equipment in exchange for manpower assistance from the stalking unit guys when the time came to arrest the sex offenders.  See…governments can think outside the box and come up with good solutions from time to time. 

Enforcement

We’ll discuss the pros and cons of aggressive enforcement of protection orders and laws relating to domestic violence in another chapter.  Suffice it to say for now that aggressive enforcement tends to be the most protective, helpful solution in terms of getting stalkers to mend their ways.  I know that it feels like this would just tend to make them mad, but the reality is that when agencies show they are not going to dilly-dally with this type of nonsense, the nonsense tends to stop much sooner. 

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* I am not a spokesman for ADT, nor have I received any compensation from them for making these comments.  I have simply appreciated their willingness to provide this service over the years.