Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Police: Domestic violence is on radar

Agencies make 200 arrests in county within past 5 years


By TERRY SMITH
Express Staff Writer

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Police in Blaine County take domestic violence seriously. Of 96 cases investigated within the last 20 months, 72 led to arrests.

During the past five years, the county's police agencies made 200 arrests for crimes of violence committed by one household member against another.

"You see this through all walks of life. It's not just the lower income—it's throughout," said Blaine County Sheriff's Lt. Jay Davis. "We wouldn't want to see these numbers as high as they are, but you can't do much to regulate it."

What police can do is investigate and make an arrest if the investigating officers determine that a crime has been committed.

"We take it seriously here," said sheriff's Capt. Ed Fuller. "We respond to all domestic calls."

Fuller said the three most common underlying causes of domestic violence are alcohol, financial problems or relationships breaking up. Sometimes it's a combination of all three.

Domestic violence laws passed in Idaho in the mid-1990s made it easier for police to investigate and make an arrest.

"In the past, we could go to a scene and see that the victim had bruises, a black eye or strangulation marks, but you really couldn't do anything about it if the victim wouldn't talk," Davis said.

Now, officers are able to make an arrest using their observations, including victim injuries and property damage at the scene.

There are five Idaho statutes typically used in domestic violence arrests.

Domestic violence involving battery is the charge most often used in the county. The crime is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail. A second offense within a 10-year period can by punished by up to one year in jail.

Domestic violence with traumatic injury, which is applied in cases of broken bones or more extensive damage to a victim, is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Attempted strangulation, also a felony, is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

An offender can also be charged with a felony if the person has two prior misdemeanor domestic violence convictions within the past 15 years. Habitual domestic violence is punishable by up to five years in prison.

Domestic violence in the presence of a child is a sentence enhancement charge that can double the sentence of any of the other domestic violence crimes.

Statistics provided by the sheriff's office show that domestic violence incidents can vary widely from month to month, but that overall, incidents have remained at a fairly consistent level over the past five years.

Fuller said spikes in some months can't easily be attributed to a common cause.

"That's kind of just the way it went down," he said.

According to the statistics, of the 200 arrests made during the past five years, 38 were charged as felonies and 162 as misdemeanors.

Men were nearly nine times as likely to be offenders, with 179 arrests compared to 21 of women.

Hispanics accounted for 66 arrests compared to 133 listed as Caucasian.

Hailey police made 93 arrests, the sheriff's office 55, Ketchum police 15, the Bellevue Marshal's Office 13 and Sun Valley police 10.

Fourteen incidents are listed as court arrests, which refer to arrests ordered by judges while they are presiding over legal proceedings.

Terry Smith: tsmith@mtexpress.com




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