 |
Los Angeles Times Valley Edition | Glendale News-Press | 2005 November 19
Complex crimes, varying perceptions
BY PATRICK AZADIAN
When my column on domestic violence was published last month, I was not prepared for what was to follow. For the first time in two years, my mom disagreed with my approach. If my target was the Armenian community, then she thought it would have been more appropriate if I had published in Armenian. Understandably, she may have been ashamed of our sullied communal laundry.
The target audience was everyone: our neighbors, respective families, friends and co-workers. After a civilized debate between mother and son, mom declared: "Last year, I couldn't help but call the police when I witnessed two children hanging from their father's neck in an attempt to stop him from hurting their mother." Police response was swift and efficient; officers were able to rescue the wife and the children from further abuse.
In the meantime, some neighbors expressed their displeasure at my mom's hands-on approach. A family affair is none of our business, she was told.
Maybe more than anyone, the column was for her aloof neighbors.
Days later, Helen Karibyan, the Community Outreach Advocate for the Domestic Violence Program at the Glendale YWCA, made contact with me after reading my column. . Her job description is straightforward: Reach out to the community and educate the public about domestic violence. Moreover, because of her ethnic roots, she is expected to make inroads into the Armenian-American community.
Karibyan has also had to deal with a death threat on her own life. During her first few weeks at work, a caller made it clear to her how and where she would end up if she made any contacts with a possible victim.
Once Karibyan and her co-workers recovered from the initial shock of the call, they contacted the Glendale Police Department for help.
"I was looking for direction from the Police Department, yet I was quickly presented with a scenario of my two choices by the officer," Karibyan said.
According to Karibyan, she was told to either press charges or drop her complaints.
"I knew what my choices where, but I needed a little bit more coaching on this matter," she said. "Judging from the officer's approach, I did not feel I should follow through with filing a report."
She ended up dropping her complaint.
A few weeks after my conversation with Karibyan, Kathy Mathis, the director of the Domestic Violence Program at the Glendale YWCA, also approached me with concerns.
A young woman had been subject to continuous abuse after she ended her relationship with her boyfriend.
"I had seen the abuse myself," Mathis said.
And despite having a restraining order against the aggressor, the victim had difficulty keeping him at bay, she said.
According to Mathis, constant complaints to the Police Department did not produce the type of response she deemed appropriate. She got the impression that the Police Department would rather put the aggressors away for a long time, rather than keeping them incarcerated for days on relatively smaller and more frequent infractions.
"But, I think if the abusers are arrested for smaller abuses, then maybe, we won't have to arrest them of bigger crimes in the future," Mathis said.
Recently, Mathis said, a case escalated when the mother of a victim was allegedly subject to abuse herself. Even with her support, she was unsuccessful in having the assailant arrested. Mathis did not feel the victim had gotten sufficient attention from law enforcement. Mathis, who is not one to mince words, said, "I was talking to a brick wall."
In spite of these experiences, the Glendale Police Department has one of the highest filings on domestic violence cases in the area, Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.
"We file and record about 20% more cases of domestic violence in Glendale than in neighboring cities," Lorenz said.
Compared to some of its neighboring cities, the Glendale Police Department also employs more officers in the Assault Unit, which handles the domestic violence cases, he said.
"We have one sergeant and five detectives working in this particular department," Lorenz said.
Meanwhile, Glendale Police presented six potential cases to the District Attorney's office last week. Five out of six of the filings were rejected by the D.A., he said.
A small setback for domestic violence cases here in Glendale. But Glendale Police Sgt. Timothy Fealey of the assaults unit was unyielding in the department's commitment to pursue such crimes.
"We are very aggressive in our approach to all domestic violence cases, while remaining within the boundaries defined for us by law," he said. "These are serious matters, and we make sure they are all treated seriously."
By all accounts, domestic violence seems to be one of the most difficult and complicated crimes to solve.
Copyright 2005 Glendale News Press
|
