Elizabeth L. Parker, Esq.
SEMINAR FOCUSES ON BETTER RESPONSE TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE The Palm Beach Post October 2010 by Daphne Duret
A panel of local prosecutors, law enforcement and social services workers will meet in January to begin reviewing several recent local domestic-violence-related murders, including three cases from last month. Members of Palm Beach County's Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team said at a training seminar Thursday that they will select some 2010 cases to review next year in hopes of improving the community's response to domestic violence. But in some cases, such as the Sept. 27 murder-suicide in Riviera Beach that left six dead, they are sure questions will remain. "Could we have intervened? Is there something that could have happened to prevent this? We'll probably never know," Palm Beach County sheriff's Detective Dale Fox said. "The people who could have given us all those answers aren't here." Fox, one of two panel members from the sheriff's office, said the panel likely will save a review of Patrick Dell's murder of Natasha Dell-Whyte and his four stepchildren before turning the gun on himself until later next year so they can analyze the lengthy history of violence in that case. They also will likely review Slobodan Dragic's Sept. 30 alleged slaying of his wife outside their suburban West Palm Beach home, and Aniel Escobar's Sept. 25 alleged murder of his girlfriend's sister, also in suburban West Palm Beach. On Thursday, experts on domestic violence gave the panelists and a group of local workers information on national trends as well as strategies to deal with individual cases. Neil Websdale, a criminal justice professor at Northern Arizona University and author of several books on domestic violence, said the trend of familicide, abusers murdering their families, is one that has seen a marked increase in the past two years. Websdale said the economic slump has brought an increase in domestic-violence-related murders. Other issues, such as homelessness and substance abuse, problems that are often complicated when there's a disconnect between agencies and those they try to help, also have ties to domestic violence, Websdale said.
Elizabeth L. Parker, Esq. "When we ask domestic violence survivors about the services they feel were available to them, we often get a very different response than what we think is available," Websdale said. Sheriff's Sgt. Kyle Haas and Assistant State Attorney Liz Parker held a workshop for law enforcement and social workers at Thursday's seminar on how to properly document domestic violence cases so that prosecutors still have proof even when victims refuse to cooperate. Haas said a lack of physical evidence or independent witnesses often can leave law enforcement powerless in investigating cases of suspected domestic violence. Asking a few extra questions and making observations at a crime scene sometimes can save a case. "It doesn't take too much extra work to go beyond the surface, and that ends up sometimes making the difference," Haas said. The training, sponsored by the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Domestic Violence Council of Palm Beach County, ended with a panel discussion on how local workers planned to use their training. Afterward, several attendees said they worry that having October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month puts the issue in the shadow of others such as breast cancer, which is also highlighted every October. Several states have moved domestic violence awareness to May, council members said, but Florida isn't one of them. "For a lack of a better word, I feel like we can't compete," said Pastor J.R. Thicklin, who is hosting a forum on domestic violence at a West Palm Beach church Saturday. "But this issue is one that needs all the attention we can get." National trends in domestic violence-related deaths   
A significant number of the 6,000 women who commit suicide in the United States each year are victims of abuse by an intimate male partner. If a batterer abuses a woman while she is pregnant, she is three times more likely to be killed by her abuser than other victims. There's an elevated risk of domestic violence fatalities in cases where there is an age difference of 10 years or more.
Source: Neil Websdale, professor of criminal justice at Northern Arizona University, citing national statistics.
Elizabeth L. Parker, Esq.