October marks Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and Gainesville Police is joining other law enforcement agencies and local businesses in recognition.
From the Ray Rice debate to the tragic murder-suicide in Bell, Florida, domestic violence cases have made national headlines. Just this year, GPD responded to 407 non-criminal domestic disturbances, and a release said officers arrested 778 people on charges of domestic violence where proof of a threat or injury was present.
This month, Satchel’s Pizza is donating its ATM fees to Peaceful Paths, a 24-hour crisis line and emergency shelter that serves domestic violence victims in Alachua, Bradford and Union counties.
GPD identifies high-risk domestic violence cases through its Lethality Assessment Protocol, a checklist used to determine the severity of a specific case. Some of the checklist’s questions
require an officer to contact a domestic violence counselor while on the scene.
GPD spokesman Officer Ben Tobias said it is up to the offenders to stop domestic violence.
“Domestic abusers think it’s simply a loss of control that creates violent behavior,” Tobias said in a press release. “In fact, abusive domestic behavior is a deliberate choice to gain control over their partner.”
[A version of this story ran on page 5 on 10/2/2014]
