Police training conference focuses on domestic violence issues
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POLSON — We’ve all seen or heard it at one time or another. Yelling coming from a neighbor’s house, a child’s bruised arm, a woman’s tear-stained face — they may be subtle, but they’re the signs of domestic violence. They make us uncomfortable, but usually not uncomfortable enough to actually do anything about what we see.
But in such situations, minding your own business could be deadly. Domestic violence offenders aren’t just people who occasionally lose their tempers, domestic violence expert Lt. Mark Wynn explained. “They’re a different group; they’re criminals,” he said.
Wynn, a 20-year member of the Nashville Metropolitan Police Force and a 1994 graduate of the FBI Academy, was in Polson last week to conduct a daylong training session for local law enforcement April 6. The training was followed by an invitation-only executive meeting April 7 for tribal and county leaders, prosecutors and domestic violence investigators. And an afternoon question and answer session gave the public a chance to pick Wynn’s brain on the issues.
Wynn’s visit came in conjunction with Sexual Assault Awareness Month, DOVES (Domestic Violence Education and Services) director Jenifer Blumberg said. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ Victim Assistance Program organized the training sessions, which were funded through the Montana Board of Crime Control Violence Against Women Act.
Domestic violence is a much deeper and more complex issue than most people think, Wynn explained at the public forum. People who will abuse a loved one, whether physically or emotionally, want to be in control, and they want their victims to take the blame for the abuse. And when law enforcement gets involved, offenders will often try to intimidate and threaten the police officer that responds to the call.
“Domestic violence offenders want you to take responsibility for their actions,” Wynn said. “That’s what they’re good at.”
Further complicating the issue for law enforcement is the fact that domestic violence doesn’t just mean hitting, beating or other physical abuse — psychological abuse can be just as damaging. Back when Wynn attended grade school, teachers still punished students by paddling them, and the young offender would always be sent to sit in the hall for about half an hour before the actual spanking.
“That worrying about being hit was just as powerful as being hit,” Wynn explained.
And so it is with domestic violence — abuse is often subtle.
“My job as a police officer, when I come to the scene, is to identify the aggressor,” Wynn said. “We know how to do criminal investigations … but this is different. We don’t need to know a lot of motivation for a car thief, but we do need to know motivations for someone that hit your mother.”
Domestic violence, Wynn said, is the most committed crime in the country, but the least reported. One of the major issues facing law enforcement and others involved in the criminal justice system, like lawyers, prosecutors and judges — is how to provide safety and protection for victims that do report a domestic violence crime against them. Domestic violence offenders can quickly become murderers, he added.
“To me, this is about homicide rates. All this is about keeping people alive,” he said. “I’m a firm believer that leaving a violent relationship isn’t an event; it’s really a process.”
More Native American women are victims of domestic murder than any other ethnic group, Wynn pointed out, making the issue especially poignant on the Flathead Reservation. One woman asked what Wynn would say to “the average Lake County citizen who says, ‘I don’t beat my wife, so why is domestic violence my problem?’”
“Do you want your children exposed to violence? What are we saying to our children? Do we want to accept a society that says we have citizens that are second class?” Wynn responded.
These questions are important things to think about, especially if you suspect that someone you know is being abused.
“I think there’s a lot of looking the other way in this area,” Blumberg said. “It’s hard enough for a woman to leave (an abusive) situation … it takes support from friends and the community. People have a right to feel safe in their own homes, and I think it’s sad that they don’t.”
Blumberg said she heard nothing but good comments from the 65 law enforcement personnel that attended the training, and she hopes officers will take time to “truly understand what the situation is” next time they respond to a domestic violence complaint.
“They’re always tricky calls, but I’m hoping they’ll take the time to really do a good, thorough job,” she added.
“It’s time now for modern law enforcement to make this a priority, and if we don’t, I believe we’re pushing women back,” Wynn said, adding that he was encouraged by the response from officers at the training sessions.
Blumberg noted that she would’ve liked to have more participation from higher officials at the invitation-only session last Wednesday morning.
“Pretty much everyone who was invited did attend,” Blumberg said.
