Local opinion: Domestic violence victims are being let down by the system designed to protect them

Domestic violence (DV) victims in Pima County are suffering not only from the trauma of the violence perpetrated against them, but tragically also from systemic neglect. The agency that once led the community’s coordinated response to DV — the Pima County Attorney’s Office — has stepped back from that role, leaving a void that has led to system failures and increased risks for DV victims. A third of the cases sentenced to probation in misdemeanor domestic violence court were originally filed by law enforcement as felony charges, but the Pima County Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute them — including cases involving firearms and offenders with numerous prior convictions. These cases — which indicate high risk of potentially lethal abuse for the survivors involved — are being waived down to misdemeanors, leaving that part of the system overwhelmed with cases they are not designed to handle. Bottom line, the system is failing to protect victims.

Historically, our community has had a strong, highly functional DV task force. For over a decade, the Pima County Attorney’s Office led this task force’s efforts, including implementing protocols and processes for DV strangulations and evaluating systems failures related to DV fatalities. A key focus of this collaboration has been the development and implementation of a multi-agency protocol designed to ensure that victims at every crime scene involving intimate partner DV would receive an evidence-based assessment of their abusive partner’s risk of future DV that would likely lead to serious injury or death. That protocol involves providing every victim at high risk with immediate access to services with Emerge, 24 hours a day. Courts also receive these risk assessment results to assist judges with making informed release decisions, including if the abusive partner should be prohibited from possessing firearms during the pretrial release phase of the case.

The leadership, priorities, and philosophy have changed within the County Attorney’s Office, and they have stepped down from this leadership role. We support that Office’s focus on criminal justice reform related to racial equity and efforts to decriminalize homelessness, mental health, and addiction. However, that shift in focus, along with staffing challenges, eventually led to the dissolution of our community’s coordinated response to DV. As a result, the many important systemic processes it supported fell into disarray. Breakdowns across the system have resulted in a dramatic drop in the number of intimate partner DV victims screened with the risk assessment described above that is critical to the system’s response to those with the most imminent need for support.

When a community’s coordinated response is not engaged and active, and when there isn’t adequate leadership within that system, there is great impact to the accessibility of safety and support for survivors. We begin to see things like the lack of attention to the impact of felony declinations. We also see a lack of training throughout the system, which has resulted in racial bias and injuries to Black women being missed or ignored. We see the arrest and prosecution of victims who were left to defend themselves, and we see a lack of attention to the risk associated with firearms, even as Gun Violence Awareness Month reminds us that the presence of firearms in homes or relationships involving DV increases the risk of lethality by 500%.

With victim safety in mind, Emerge is excited to share a collaborative effort to revitalize Pima County’s Coordinated Community Response Team (CCRT). Joining Emerge in leading the rebirth of the CCRT are tireless and dedicated partners including Tucson City Court’s Domestic Violence Court (Judge Wendy Million), Southern Arizona Center Against Sexual Assault, Southern Arizona Legal Aid, Tucson Police Department, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department and many others.

We must do better for survivors of domestic violence. Together, we can and we will.