Domestic Violence: Battered Women's Shelters

The Central Minnesota Task Force on Battered Women, doing business as Anna Marie 's Alliance, is a private non-profit corporation formed in 1979 dedicated to providing safe shelter, support, and referral services for battered women and their children. The Alliance also works with the community on systems change and violence prevention. Anna Marie 's has sheltered over 13,000 battered women and their children since 1979 (more than 8,000 of these were children) ("Anna Marie 's Alliance | providing safety and shelter today... violence-free communities tomorrow," n.d.). The state of MN has oversight over Anna Marie’s Alliance because the state grants the legal existence of the organization through not-for-profit incorporation laws. Likewise, the federal government also has oversight over Anna Marie’s Alliance because the federal government grants exemption from federal income taxes. This paper discusses the nonprofit organization and the accounting practices at Anna Marie’s Alliance.

The story of Crystal Bram, wife of Tacoma Police Chief David Brame, is a picture perfect case of how many women are trapped and beaten by the men they love. Chief Brame had his wife on a schedule like no other. He would time her on how much time it would take to get to and from the store, how long to walk to and from the mailbox, and always when was David (their son) coming home? Crystal wasn’t every other woman though; her husband was the Chief of Police in Tacoma, Washington. With her husband’s position with the police department Crystal found it hard to get the proper assistance she needed. When she confronted him about stopping the abuse and control on her life, he would respond to her asking, “Who are you going to call? One of my buddies?” Eventually she did report this issue to the police, only for it to fall on deaf ears , and the City Manager prevented further investigation. When a journalist reported what Crystal had brought up, the president of the Tacoma police union threatened the writer. Crystal eventually filed for divorce. In response her husband accused her of having a bad temper and physically abusing him for multiple years also. Crystal was only about 5 foot tall and 100 pounds. This story has a sad ending as Chief Brame used his police duty weapon to fatally shoot Crystal and then turned the gun on himself. (Carter, 2003)

When prosecuting criminal domestic violence cases too many officers constructed their entire case only on statements made by the victim. However, “victims of domestic violence are more likely than victims of other violent crime to recant or refuse to cooperate in prosecutorial efforts” (Breitenbach, 2008, p. 1256). Officers must consider that victims of domestic violence may refuse to testify because of fear of retaliation, intimidation, financial dependence, emotional attachment, and/or because they reunited with the batterer. If the victim refused to testify during court, their statement against the abuser becomes hearsay evidence. Several recent cases have had a huge influence on how those statements and hearsay evidence may be

Officer involved domestic violence is a disgraceful act that creates an abhorrent response from members of society. The realization that those who those who swore to protect and serve the community also may take part in such vile transgressions goes above and beyond most people's intellectual capacity. Provided the statistical pervasiveness of officer involved domestic violence, systematic research is desired to determine exactly how police agencies are acknowledging the problem (Lonsway, 2006).

“When you have police officers who abuse citizens, you erode public confidence in law enforcement. That makes the job of good police officers unsafe.” (Berry) Recently police brutality has become an alarming issue in society. At the end of 2015, thousands of deaths resulted in accusing victims dying in police custody. Individuals in communities across the state are beginning to lose faith in law enforcement in their ability to properly do their jobs. Providing police officers with extensive and innovative training to give them the adequate length of experience and training will decrease police brutality.

Have you ever thought about what happens if a person breaks a law? What if this individual breaks a minor law and creates a larger problem? A strong topic is upon our society when it comes to law enforcement and the tough physical and verbal oppression that they have the potential to put on people when it comes to breaking the law. Police officers are supposed to be society 's saviors, guardians, and our friends. However, when things do not go quite right, and when someone breaks the law, there will always be that chance that things could escalate. These officers are supposed to deescalate situations and solve problems. That is what society relies on them at any given moment. Sometimes it takes an escalation of force to deescalate a criminal situation. This is why society sees the men and women in uniform with weapons capable of hindering life to the fullest. However, when this force is used and abused, it creates problems. The public eye becomes weary of the police in many different ways for using excessive force to deescalate a situation. Excessive force and police brutality are often caused by depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, as well as other mental disorders; due to the way they are portrayed by the media, excessive force and police brutality have a direct effect on the American society as well as fellow officers in all branches of law enforcement.

In the most recent data available from 2015, it was disclosed that nearly 92,000 Canadians had report to the police an incident related to domestic violence; of this number, 80% of them were women (Burczycka, 2017). It is then no surprise that intimate partnership violence has been found to be one of the major causes of violence against women in Canada (Ministry of the Status of Women, 2015). Many agencies focus on supporting directly the female victims and providing them with secured shelters and safe spaces to rebuild themselves after leaving their abusive relationship (Shelter Safe, 2017). However, a need to address domestic violence from the roots arose in Ontario1982, when the community identified a gap in the offer of programs

Many of the victims, as well as abusers, experience same issues that are faced by civilians. Though society looks to law enforcement to intervene in domestic violence situations, law enforcement officers themselves may also be experiencing like situations at home. Law enforcement officers may be abusers as well as victims of domestic violence. It is essential that they receive the same help as civilians receive. It is not something to be ashamed of; it is a serious problem that needs special attention. Abusers show similar signs and causes, as well as victims experience similar abusers and abuse. What is the truth of officer-involved domestic violence?

"As soon as we moved into this house, you think you can have your way. You are my wife and I tell you what you can do and what you can't do." This kind of statement is typical of what a battered woman knows to be the only truth in her household. Domestic violence is greatly on the rise and is one of the leading causes of homelessness among women in today's society.

Domestic Violence is one of the most common crimes that occur, however not all of them being reported. There are many effects and causes to this behavior in law enforcement officers that have been studied by many researchers and doctors, authors, and the media. The victims of domestic violence from law enforcement officers (mostly being women) are affected by this greatly on a higher level than regular women who aren’t married to police officers, as they have much more to lose if such acts were ever reported on their spouses. There are many theoretical causes of domestic violence from law enforcement officers, which effect their victims greatly, making it almost impossible for them to report any offense without some type of consequence of

Over the years it has been brought up that domestic violence is a very serious but also a very preventable crime. It is not the type of crime that is drawn to one class of people. Any person of any social class of either sex of any background and profession such as a doctor, lawyer or a judge can commit an act of domestic violence or can be a victim of it. And children, although they may not get abused, there are in fact effected emotionally by witnessing the abuse going on in the house. However domestic violence committed by those who are in law enforcement seems pretty ironic, but it is very common and has become a very controversial topic that has been researched and examined by professionals about this issue. Domestic violence should not be taken lightly and is inexcusable especially by those of law enforcement who’s job is to protect people from harm. It’s not only unethical but it sets a bad example, and should not be tolerated, especially on more than one offense, those officers should have their badges taken away, or be taken out of active duty at the least. These officers have a great advantage in getting away with these acts of violence because they know their wives will not report it due to a great number of risks. However in situations where the perpetrator are those officers coming back from combat, with serious psychological concerns deserve proper treatment and therapy so that hopefully the domestic violence will be

Since domestic violence is a rising problem in our community, it is an issue that is likely to be repeated as well. It is likely that the attacker will assault their victim again because they think they have gotten away with it or that it is okay for them to do it. This is what gives the attacker the idea that they have the most control in the relationship. If there is an incident of domestic violence and it is reported, it is likely that the police will be called. Domestic violence, generally, has high levels of repeat calls for police service. According to Khautan, police data has shown that 42 percent of domestic violence incidents within one year were repeat offenses, and one-third of domestic violence offenders were responsible for

Many factors can contribute to this problem the police force is having with police officers abuse of power, one of them being the psychological health of police officers where they aren’t fit to serve and protect the people they sworn to protect. After the shooting of an unarmed woman at Capitol Hill, The National Allegiance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and the Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) started what is to be the most Comprehensive Police Officer mental health program in the country, this 40 hours crisis intervention program is available in 45 states as well as the district of Columbia, excluded are the state of Delaware, West Virginia, Alabama, Arkansas and Rhode Island. Needless to say a few departments are working hard to improve the quality and integrity of their officers to eliminate the raising percentage of officers committing abuse to those who they sworn to protect.

Domestic violence is a crime that occurs regularly within the United States. It claims millions of victims each year. There is not a specific cause to establish why domestic violence occurs. However, it has been documented that domestic violence is a product of physical, emotional, sexual, psychological, and any other forms of torture or torment that the particular abuser wishes to employ to gain control or power over their victims (Gosselin, 2005). Due to the complexity of this crime, many criminologists and socialologists have studied its causes and the effects in order to determine social policies and additional theories to better understand the causation of domestic violence. The social policies and theories that are developed from

Every year in the United States hundreds of thousands of domestic violence crimes are committed, many of which go unreported. According to a National Crime Victimization survey, "over two-thirds of violent victimization against women were by someone known to them"(Bachman, pg.1). Approximately 5% were relatives other than husbands, 35%