Tempe Police: Nearly 20-Percent of Calls are Related to Domestic Violence

By: Crescencia CeCe Faz

Cronkite Special to AZLatinos.com

Domestic violence can lead to fear, stress and feelings of uneasiness, especially as rates increase. According to Alfredo Jimenez, a committee engagement officer with the Tempe Police Department, “Domestic violence is the most dangerous call to respond to. This is mostly because we never know how the people involved are going to react.”

Tempe police reported that 15 to 20 percent of calls are domestic-violence related – an equivalent to being every fifth or sixth call. Domestic violence can be lead to other crimes such as threatening, intimidation, damage to property and kidnapping.

Jazlyanna Alefessa, a domestic violence victim, knows this to be true through first-hand experiences. “I was in a relationship and lived in fear every single day,” Alefessa said. Because danger is higher in situations involving children, orders of protection and restraining orders are often put into place. “I lived in fear for myself, but I was more worried for my children,” she added.

When domestic violence is reported, officers ask the parties involved if one of them wants to be considered a victim. If neither of them agrees, there is no crime. But intimidation is the most common reason for someone not wanting to be considered a victim. “Even though he had to stay away, I was afraid he would come back to do something worse,” Alefessa said.

“When most people hear about a case of domestic violence, they automatically think about a husband and wife, or boyfriend and girlfriend,” Jimenez said. And because domestic violence is such a broad term; this is not always the case. “It’s considered domestic violence with anyone that has ever lived with another person,” Jimenez continued. “Domestic violence can occur between siblings that haven’t seen each other in several years, but were children together in the same household.” Jimenez then explained that since the two siblings once lived together, they are considered a domestic case.

In one case, an order of protection was put into place because the girlfriend was throwing verbal threats at her boyfriend and left bruising and marks on his body. A child was involved, and it was considered an aggregated crime. The Tempe Police Department sees that families tend to report domestic crimes more than those directly involved in the fighting. This may be because they know their relative is afraid and feels threatened.

Theodore Rodrigues has volunteered at shelters that help care for women who have been abused. “I saw women with children who were verbally and physically abused in domestic violence situations,” Rodrigues said. “It was sad to see that they didn’t want to leave their abusers for fear they would be hurt. Some were only there because their relatives or friends convinced them to leave.”

Jimenez added when a domestic violence case is called in, and someone agrees to be the victim, they also qualify to be involved in the crime, as well as a suspect. It is up to police officers to look into the case and determine the best actions to take.