Officials: Domestic Violence Incidents in Windsor Locks Increases by 66%

When you look at the statistics published in the state's Family Violence Arrests Report for 2011, the numbers are unnerving.

Between 2010-11 and 2011-12, the amount of incidents related to domestic violence in this small town of 12,500 increased by 66.1 percent, from 62 to 103.

Of those 103 calls for service, the offenses included 36 assaults, 17 charges of breach of peace, 36 disorderly conduct charges and 14 categorized as other, according to the report.

To Windsor Locks Police Commission Chairman Kevin Brace, it's simply unacceptable.

“I was appalled when I saw the numbers,” Brace said this week. “You can’t point to any one factor. It’s not a certain street, it’s not a certain household, it’s a town-wide problem,” he said.

Tonight at 7 during the community watch program at the Windsor Locks Town Hall, police officials will meet with members of the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Network Against Domestic Abuse based in Enfield to discuss what can be done to reduce the amount of familial abuse in 2012-13 and beyond.

Within the coming months the groups could be formal partners in a program that will provide police with more intense training in accessing the immediate needs of domestic violence victims and providing them with greater access to services.

"We're really trying to be proactive and improving the quality of life for our residents. Domestic violence doesn't only affect the couple, it affects the children, their school performance ...," Brace said, his voice trailing off. 

For the past year, several of the organizations that are members of the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence have been acting as part of a pilot program with local police departments that trains officers to discretely screen victims of domestic abuse while at the scene.

If the officers determine that there is substantial risk to the victim, he or she can put the victim in immediate contact with services instead of providing them with a referral, according to coalition Executive Director Karen Jarmoc.

"Normally, a police officer would give them a card and a contact number. A lot of times the victims are not getting served. Sometimes the victims aren't always fully aware of the level of risk that they might be in at a certain situation, just how lethal the situation might be. This program allows the police officer to have a conversation with the victims and they can determine just how at risk the person is," Jarmoc said.

If the program is implemented in Windsor Locks, it will be the first such operation in north central Connecticut, Jarmoc said.

At tonight's meeting, Kathy Barron, the executive director of the Enfield-based Network Against Domestic Abuse, will join Jarmoc and Windsor Locks police officials to discussion the new program. The network is the local domestic violence organization that might team up with the Windsor Locks police to implement the new program.

For more information about the state coalition and the 18 organizations that work to provide training, education and victim services log onto www.ctcadv.org. If you are a victim of domestic violence you can call the coalition's confidential hotline at (888) 774-2900.