Stop the Loss Initiative: A Community Wide, Focused Deterrence Approach to Domestic and Dating Violence.

• Author: Fields, Melanie S.

All law enforcement officers have felt extraordinary frustration responding to domestic and dating violence calls when an individual does not leave an abusive relationship. Officers give their best advice, but they do not always understand that leaving is often the most dangerous time for the victim--and often for the officer. Leaving is not an event; it is a complex process. Like law enforcement officers, family and close friends of victims of domestic and dating violence express similar frustration--often distancing themselves from the victim. Victims of intimate partner violence learn that any sudden movement may provoke violence. They develop tools to enable them to survive and, often to protect others (like children). These personal tools work to calm down an angry partner. Things like pleading, begging, cajoling, promising, agreeing, admitting fault, and public displays of solidarity help them to survive. As family and close friends distance themselves from victims, it often falls to first responders to identify and intervene in a potential homicide. Emergency room physicians and nurses, primary care providers, OB-GYN doctors, pharmacists, law enforcement, and other specialists are often the only ones to "see" or notice the red flags that identify the victim and allow for intervention prior to a homicide.

In 2016, East Baton Rouge Parish experienced ripples of social disruption. The officer involved shooting and killing of Alton Sterling launched a wave of protests. Shortly after, Gavin Long shot six law enforcement officers in an ambush. As the parish was attempting to cope with the social unrest and loss of life, a "great flood" displaced a majority of the area population. These ripples of social disruption spread to individual families and individual lives. The result was that the number of DV related deaths doubled in 2017. There were four DV related deaths in East Baton Rouge Parish in 2015, seven in 2016 and 14 in 2017. District Attorneys use a variety of statistics to determine if crime in their area has increased or decreased. The EBR District Attorney uses a numerical filing system and can easily judge if numbers increased or decreased from previous years by the number of files opened each year. He also notes the numbers of homicides. While criminal accountability and victim safety are paramount for the elected District Attorney, the primary job of prosecution is to prevent, if at all possible, further murders.

As a result, the District Attorney for the parish of East Baton Rouge, Louisiana determined to develop a strategic initiative to address domestic and dating violence.

Domestic violence crime is one of the most pervasive public safety issues nationwide. According to a 2015 survey by the...