Lansing - A $180,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice will help Ingham County better prosecute perpetrators of domestic abuse.
Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III joined U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, and Lansing police Chief Mark Alley on Monday to announce the formation of the Domestic Assault Response Team - the product of the Justice Department’s grant.
The grant will provide the Lansing Police Department with a detective, personal protection order advocate, a domestic violence advocate and an assistant prosecutor to follow the nearly 1,800 cases that come through the courts annually.
“For too long, those who are stuck in the cycle of domestic violence are isolated from the service and support they need to escape the abuse,” Dunnings said.
“In many of these cases, the isolation of the victim can only lead to an escalation of crimes perpetrated against her.”
Dunnings stressed cases involving females because the majority involve male assailants.
The Domestic Assault Response Team, Dunnings said, is based on programs already existing in Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo.
He said women 16 to 20 years old are most likely to be victims of assault, but those cases aren’t reported often enough.
County prosecutors have difficulty convincing victims to follow through with the charges, he said.
One area the Domestic Assault Response Team will tackle is victimless prosecution, the point where prosecutors no longer need the victim to testify.
“What we are hoping to do with this program is to get more cases in the position where we can proceed without the victim,” he said.
Stabenow said having a prosecutor and police officer working together through the judicial process can make all the difference in the world.
“The most important thing is to be as effective as possible at helping the victim follow through in the prosecution so that abusers are held accountable and women and their children can be safe,” Stabenow said.
“Right now the biggest challenge with domestic violence is to have the victim feel safe enough to follow through and have the system really work to protect her and her children.”
Children are at a greater risk, she said, because domestic violence gives them the idea it’s acceptable.
“The root causes of violence in our community, is violence in our homes,” she said.
“If children at a young age see that it is tolerated within the home, that sends a very strong message that violence is OK,” Stabenow said.
MSU Safe Place director Holly Rosen said she will work with the members of the team.
“This plan will increase assailant accountability and victim safety,” she said. “That will ultimately serve the MSU campus and MSU Safe Place. In order for there to be victim safety we need to have accountability, prosecution and consequences for the perpetrators.
“They have done an excellent job in the past, but having this team approach can really help.”
