Domestic Violence in ABQ: Policy Options

Introduction 

When I was an undergraduate at New Mexico State University, my communications professor assigned my group the task to help and create an advertising campaign for a not-for-profit organization in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The not-for-profit my group and I were assigned to was La Casa Inc., which is a domestic violence prevention provider. Having the experience of working with an organization tailored around protecting and serving domestic violence victims made me understand the severity of the issue of domestic violence in New Mexico. This also reinvigorated the importance of domestic awareness, advocacy, and support. 

Implementing policies to combat and prevent domestic violence incidents tends to be a challenge. There are currently various legislation, laws, and organizations throughout the nation that focus on efficiently responding to domestic violence incidents and providing enough resources for domestic violence victims. One of the biggest challenges, however, is preventing domestic violence incidents before they even occur. This is often a question various lawmakers and organizations have yet to answer. However, organizations like La Casa Inc and others across the state have figured out alternative and effective solutions to support victims, prevent further abuse, and build healthy relationships with family and friends.  

 

Status of domestic violence in Albuquerque  

The first goal I had for myself was to understand the data and different trends of domestic violence incidents in Albuquerque. The second goal was to learn what the City of Albuquerque is currently implementing to prevent domestic violence incidents. The third goal was to educate myself on the different Domestic Violence prevention providers in Albuquerque. 

In 2020, Albuquerque had 8,532 domestic violence incidents. Below is a graphic of the Bernalillo County Domestic Violence trends. This provides us a visual overview of how Bernalillo County, from 2016-2020, is clearly above the statewide average rate of domestic violence incidents. This graphic also provides the number of clients served by service providers. What is alarming is not only the sparse number of adults and children served by service providers, but the egregiously small number of offenders being served by domestic violence services as well. What New Mexico must prioritize in is providing instant support for victims and implementing a rehabilitation initiative for offenders. 

 

(Caponera, B. (2020)) 

 

Since 2019, City of Albuquerque has implemented their own task force focusing on tackling domestic violence. Their focus is making recommendations of action that the city of Albuquerque can implement. This Domestic Violence Task Force was incorporated in a permanent line-item in the city budget to address domestic violence, sexual assault, and intimate partner violence. The current task force has the foundation to become a Coordinated Community Response (CCR). CCRs are “the response of police, prosecutors, probation officers, battered women advocates,’ counselors, and judges in developing and implementing policies and procedures that improve interagency coordination and lead to more uniform responses to domestic violence cases” (Shepard, 1999). Melissa Sinclair, who is the CCR Coordinator for the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NMCADV), elaborated what CCRs are intended to do. Melissa stated that CCRs is for different agencies to “come together to talk about domestic violence in their specific jurisdiction... and how the team can come together to improve policies, procedures, and practices that pertain to either to survivor safety or offender accountability”  

Albuquerque already has 5 domestic violence providers tailored to providing direct service for victims. Examples of what these services tend to provide include emergency sheltering of victims and having a hotline readily available for victims. An example of one of the organizations would be the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NMCADV). David Garvin, who is the NMCADV Director of Battering Intervention Services & Systems Reponses, stated that NMCADV is a membership organization that is focused on supporting all domestic violence organization in the state of New Mexico. David elaborated on the importance of educating individuals about domestic violence. David stated, “why don’t we teach people about something that is so prevalent in our world... and is the number one reason for homelessness for women and children... and the most common reason for women being murdered.”  

Short-term & Long-term policy options  

My project's purpose was to create new policy initiatives for domestic violence in Albuquerque. Out of the four policy options, I was able to provide two options that would provide a short-term and the long-term solution to address domestic violence in Albuquerque. 

The short-term option would be to increase criminal penalties for abusers. The precedent that I focused on for this project was the Crime Against Household Members Act. What I primarily focused on was the current precedent for the act of battery and aggravated battery relating to domestic violence incidents. Under NM Stat 30-3-15 & 16, a person who commits the act of battery is guilty of a misdemeanor and a person who commits the act of aggravated battery is guilty of a misdemeanor or a third-degree felony. The proposed changes under the Crimes Against Household Members Act would include three provisions: (1) upgrade all aggravated battery charges to third-degree felony and serving at least 6 months in jail, (2) For both battery and aggravated battery, the offender is required to participate in a domestic violence intervention/program while incarcerated, (3) implementing a three-strike rule for offenders.  

Increasing criminal penalties would be a signal to offenders that domestic violence is not tolerated. The vision for increasing criminal penalties would be used as a deterrence and for potential offenders to understand the consequences associated when committing the act battery or aggravated battery to a household member. The major concern with increasing criminal penalties is the potential for increasing the incarceration rates and infuriating the offender. According to the Prision Policy Initative, New Mexico is above the nation average regarding to the incarceration rate. Increasing criminal penalties increases the number of people in jail. The discussion around increasing the prison population tends to have a mix-bag of opinions and raises the question of whether this policy option is beneficial to solving the issue. 

 

(Prison Policy Incentive, 2022) 

Offenders serving a prolonged sentence can also lead to angering the offender. Domestic violence tends to be the precursor to escalating the abuser to inflict more harm to a victim. For example, according to last year’s report from the Albuquerque Police Department, 20% of homicides were associated with domestic violence. In a perfect world, increased criminal penalties would be the ideal solution for offenders to learn from their mistakes and begin the process of rehabilitating. However, this is not the case. 

The long-term option would be to create domestic violence housing focused on building financial independence. The focus is to (1) provide free housing for up to a year, (2) provide meals, toiletries, and clothes, (3) and being enrolled in financial dependency training. This approach would foster a community of people who have shared experiences and guarantee safety for victims and their families. This would not be emergency housing; this would be an approach for victims to be in a safe environment for a prolonged period to become financially independent from the offender. 

 

(Caponera, B. (2020)) 

 

Although this data is from 2012, this presents the egregious low percentage of survivors enrolled in transitional housing and presents the excessively high number of survivors in shelters or living with a friend/relative. According to the National Network to End Domestic Violence, between 22 and 57 percent of women and children who are homeless is because of domestic violence. 38 percent of all victims experiencing homelessness at some point in their lives are due to domestic violence (NNEDV, 2022). When a victim or a survivor wants to leave their abusive partner, safe and affordable housing is one of the barriers. When a victim has a child or children, this adds upon the existing barrier. Therefore, having housing tailored to financial independence is crucial. 

The consequences associated with this policy option are having victims commit to this program for an extended period and the hiring of highly qualified individuals for the program. Although many victims/survivors may understand the benefits of this initiative, victims will consider if this life-altering decision is in the best interest for themselves and their family. Also, not having enough caseworkers in the facility can present challenges of running a functional and effective program. 

 

Why this needs to be addressed 

Kyle Hartsock, APD (Albuquerque Police Department) Deputy Commander of the Criminal Investigation Division, was able to speak on his personal experience to responding as a police officer to domestic violence incidents. APD Deputy Commander Hartsock stated that, “you will not find a police officer that exists who has not investigated a domestic violence case... and in the police academy, we were taught that the most dangerous calls for police officer were traffic stops and domestic violence incidences.” George Vega, APD Commander of the Criminal Investigation Division, stated when he was a field service police officer, “getting dispatched to a domestic violence call was a nightly occurrence.” I was also able to ask APD Deputy Commander Hartsock if there is a specific demographic of people who are more affected by domestic violence than others. APD Deputy Commander Hartsock stated that, “I do not think it affects one group more than the other... and it is a misnomer to think that domestic violence does not affect every class, gender, and race.” 

It is important to note that domestic violence does affect everyone. There is a preconceived notion, which has merit, that women are more disproportionally affected than anyone else. According to the City of Albuquerque, 1 in 3 women are victims of domestic violence in their lifetime and domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to a woman. But the fact of the matter is that men and children are also prone to being affected by domestic violence. 1 in 7 men, in their lifetime, are victims of domestic violence (CABQ, 2022). But what is more alarming is the effect domestic violence has on children. According to the Bernalillo County Domestic Violence trends and the first graph presented earlier, there is a high volume of children enrolled in domestic violence services. Child who experiences domestic violence may still feel unsafe even when the abuser is not present. Even worse, children who witness domestic violence can replicate these abusive behaviors and create the next generation of offenders.  

 

References 

Caponera, B. (2020) Incidence and nature of domestic violence in New Mexico XIX - NMCSAP, Incidence and Nature of Domestic Violence. The New Mexico Interpersonal Violence Data Central Repository. Available at: https://nmcsap.org/wp-content/uploads/DV_Report_2020_Betty_Caponera_122021web.pdf 

National Network to End Domestic Violence (2017) The impact of safe housing on survivors of domestic violence, NNEDV. United Way. Available at: https://nnedv.org/spotlight_on/impact-safe-housing-survivors/  

New Mexico Statutes (2011). 

Shepard, M. (1999) Evaluating coordinated community responses to Domestic Violence, Evaluating Coordinated Community Responses to Domestic Violence. Applied Research Forum. Available at: https://vawnet.org/sites/default/files/materials/files/2016-09/AR_CCR.pdf  

Tim Keller, M. (2019) DVSA Commission ordinance 2022, City of Albuquerque. Available at: https://www.cabq.gov/help/documents/dvsa-commission-ordinance.pdf/view 

Informant Interviews