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Stimulus funds to pay for database to aid domestic violence prevention
Nov 18, 2009 (The Post-Star - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
SARATOGA SPRINGS -- The tools of the new technology will be their weapon.
Using $1.5 million of $7 million in federal stimulus funds targeted for the prevention of domestic violence, an electronic repository is being created that will provide 550 police agencies in the 57 counties outside of New York City with a shared informational system of domestic incident reports, regardless of where they occurred through most of the state.
Currently, domestic incident reports -- or DIRs -- are compiled in paper form whenever police respond to a incident, regardless of whether a criminal charge is eventually brought.
Individual copies of the report are then distributed among police, the criminal justice system and the victim.
This paper system often allows for repeat offenders to fall through the cracks, officials said.
"We have valuable information about domestic incidents that occur throughout the state but it's in paper form, filed away in district attorney's offices and really not accessible," said Denise O'Donnell, the state deputy secretary for public safety.
"Through the database, one of the most important uses is going to be by 911 dispatchers. If they get a call, they'll be able to search the database and tell responding officers whether there have been prior incidents of domestic violence at that location, whether there have been weapons or threats and will really go a long way to protecting officers safety," she said.
Law enforcement officials and advocates for victims of domestic violence alike applauded Tuesday's announcement of the new initiative that will eventually enable agencies to share information across county lines and in real time.
The announcement came during a gathering of about 160 law enforcement representatives and domestic violence prevention advocates during a daylong session at the Holiday Inn on Tuesday.
"As a prosecutor I'm thrilled about the new initiative because we'll now have the ability to search a database, not just in Saratoga County, but through (most of) the entire state," said Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy.
"So often, batterers were being able to evade police and prosecutors with prior incidents that didn't occur in their county. In this way, we will know what occurred in Saratoga County or in Syracuse or what occurred in Buffalo," Murphy said.
"The police will have a live link in their vehicle so when they roll out to an address they'll be able to click on that address and see how many incidents of domestic violence have occurred at that particular address and by that particular individual," Murphy said. "It's good to know the kind of person that a police officer is dealing with before he or she goes into the building."
Warren County District Attorney Kate Hogan said the new electronic sharing system will provide prosecutors with a more comprehensive understanding of a pattern of conduct including whether the alleged incident occurred as a result of "one night of abhorrent behavior" or as an indication of escalating violence.
Hogan said it will also better serve police responding to incidents.
"Those are some of the most dangerous calls to respond to," said Hogan, recalling the death of 28-year-old State Police trooper Lawrence Gleason, who was shot and killed while responding to a domestic dispute call in Crown Point in 2002.
"Now, you will be able to hit a button and get a background. It doesn't give police officers any more equipment, but it does gives them knowledge, because you never know what's on the other side of the door," Hogan said.
The system will take about a year to 18 months to be fully operational, O'Donnell said.
"It's a big IT project for us to undertake, but we have the funding, we have the plans and we're starting to build it as we speak," O'Donnell said.
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