Enter the Citrus Heights Police Department’s DVRT
program, for Domestic Violence Response Team.
In what is believed to be the only program of its kind among
law enforcement agencies in California and possibly the
nation, the DVRT program pairs two officers with a trained
expert in domestic-violence intervention who rides along
with the officers as they respond to DV calls.
After the officers secure a scene, the domestic violence
“advocate” will enter the home of the suspect and victim
and discuss counseling and other DV service options. This
step is crucial, since studies show that the best chance of
decreasing the rate of domestic violence is by getting both
victims and suspects into programs as quickly as possible.
Typically, police agencies have DV counselors follow-up
with parties involved in domestic violence calls a day or
more after the incident. The Citrus Heights PD, however,
puts the counselors on the scene as the case is unfolding.
Results of DVRT have been dramatic.
Before the program started, only 8 percent of victims of
domestic violence would follow up with services offered by
the Domestic Violence Intervention Center, said Sgt. Janet
Schaefer, the Citrus Heights PD’s domestic violence liaison
with the community.
The advocates are civilians ranging from lawyers to
teachers to retired people who all have been trained in DV
intervention and in working with police officers in Citrus
Heights, which was incorporated 15 years ago and is located
midway between Sacramento and Roseville.
When the advocates are not riding along in patrol cars
they are manning a crisis line and, with the exception of
between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., they are on call to roll outto a
scene on their own to counsel parties involved indomestic
disturbances, Schaefer said.
?
The James Q. Wilson awards are presented by the Regional
Community Policing Institute – California, as well as
the American Military University in association with the
California Police Chiefs Association and the California
Attorney General.
In addition to Boyd and the Citrus Heights PD, two
finalists also will be honored in March: the Riverside
County Sheriff ’s Department, Sheriff-Coroner Stanley
Sniff for their “Tribal Liaison Unit” and Chief James Hunt
and the Monrovia Police Department for their “Operation
Safe Neighborhoods” project. •
Now, almost 49 percent of them do, Schaefer said.
“They (victims and suspects) develop more of a personal
relationship with the domestic violence advocate,” Schaefer
said. “They put a face and a name ona person, which makes
it easier for them to feel more comfortable seeking out
additional resources.”
Seven DV advocates work part time for the Citrus Heights
PD and ride along with 12 DVRT officers at least four
nights a week during traditional peak hours for domestic
violence calls, said Boyd, former police chief of Menlo Park
who has worked in law enforcement for 22 years.
Spring 2012
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