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Give police, prosecutors tools needed to fight abuse

We need to break cycle of violence that results in death, injury

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The stories are all too depressingly similar.

A woman, after years of violence, makes excuses for her abuser or doesn't show up for trial, undercutting prosecutors' efforts.

An inexperienced prosecutor facing an experienced defense attorney fails to make a case, and an abuser goes free.

A child grows up watching his father beat his mother and handles his anger and frustration in the same way as an adult.

Another child watches her mother get abused and assumes that's the way it should be when her partner does the same.

The stories are sad, but here in Beaufort County, they've also resulted in death and serious injury. Statewide, there were more than 35,000 reported victims in 2004. The Palmetto State ranks sixth nationally in the number of women killed by boyfriends or husbands. Attorney General Henry McMaster and other prosecutors say the number of domestic violence cases reported in the state represents about half of all actual incidents.

This needs to stop. To do that, we must give law enforcement and court officers the tools they need. And we must help victims break out of a cycle of abuse that hurts them and their children.

McMaster, Fourteen Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone and Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner all have specific ideas for improving the state's dismal statistics. Lawmakers and the community should support them.

McMaster says prosecutors are not present for more than half of the domestic violence hearings in the state. The accused abuser usually has a court-provided attorney present. But the prosecution usually is handled by the police officer who made the arrest -- not a trained, experienced prosecutor.

The attorney general already encourages private attorneys to offer their time to prosecute domestic violence cases. The program, which now includes about 90 attorneys, had a 76 percent conviction rate statewide in more than 900 cases by June 2005, according to statistics provided by the attorney general.

But we can do better. McMaster would like to provide more prosecutors throughout the state for the sole purpose of working on domestic violence cases. The Senate's budget includes $2.2 million to pay for the prosecutors. State lawmakers should make sure this idea gets funded.

Stone has pitched a plan to Sen. Scott Richardson, R-Hilton Head Island, and Rep. Bill Herbkersman, R-Bluffton, to change the law to allow the Solicitor's Office to prosecute first-time offenders.

"I think it's a misnomer to say there's such a thing as a first offense," Stone said. "Criminal domestic violence is pattern behavior. It's not going to happen one time and that will be it."

Stone also has developed a strategy he hopes will lead to convictions at trial without the need for victims to cooperate.

He has launched a program at the Solicitor's Office that places at least one solicitor on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The on-call solicitor can respond immediately to the scene of domestic violence, interview victims or witnesses, gather evidence and then prosecute the offender.

Tanner recognizes that the problem needs to be addressed long before it reaches court. He says domestic violence is a learned behavior, and he's working with Stone on a diversion program to reach children who've witnessed domestic abuse. The details haven't been worked out. But the sheriff said he wants to bring children in to tell them that what they've witnessed is not right. He also wants longer sentences for people who commit abuse in the presence of children.

We all need to do what we can to reverse these grim numbers. Chris Varg, victim's advocate for Citizens Opposed to Domestic Abuse, sums it up well: "The question is what gives anyone the right to beat the crap out of somebody else?"