Since 2016 began, the Carroll County State's Attorney's Office has handled more than 350 cases marked as special victims or domestic-related. That shocking number averages more than one domestic violence case each day, and is up nearly 35 percent versus a year ago. That doesn't necessarily mean there have been more instances of domestic violence in 2016, rather we think it's a reflection of a change in thinking among law enforcement, prosecutors and even victims who may be more empowered to come forward in recent years.
In all likelihood, there are even for more instances of domestic violence occurring in the county than just the cases that land on the state's attorney's desk. Domestic violence is notoriously underreported; the U.S. Department of Justice estimates a little over half of cases are reported to law enforcement, and only about a third of victims seek medical care.
Many stigmas still exist about domestic violence; it's not comfortable to talk about, but that's why we want to applaud those leaders in the community that continue working to shed light on this problem.
Our current State's Attorney, Brian DeLeonardo, has made a point to aggressively prosecute domestic violence cases since he took office in 2014, and has worked with other agencies like the public school system, the hospital and various nonprofits to raise awareness and make resources available to victims of domestic violence. His office has also organized training for law enforcement to better investigate strangulation cases.
To the latter point, Carroll Hospital, which began offering lethality assessments to possible domestic violence victims about a year and a half ago, recently purchased a camera that can be used to visualize bruising up to five days after an assault. Oftentimes, even though strangulation can be lethal, it leaves no visual marks to the naked eye. The "CrimeCam" uses alternative light sources to identify bruising under the skin, and detect other signs of physical and sexual assaults.
Potentially, having these images could help prosecutors put dangerous offenders behind bars before the violence escalates and someone ends up dead. A 2008 study in the Journal of Emergency Medicine notes that the risk of an attempted homicide increases seven times for women who have been strangled by their partner, and 43 percent of women murdered in domestic assaults had been strangled by a partner in the year prior.
Currently, though, strangulation is considered second-degree assault in Maryland, punishable by up to 10 years in jail. Carroll prosecutors, specifically special victims' attorney Brenda Harkavy, have suggested they'd like to see strangulation specifically added to the first-degree assault statute, which carries a maximum penalty of up to 25 years in jail.
As the legislative session begins next month, we'd like to call on the members of our delegation to Annapolis to partner with the State's Attorney's Office to introduce and advocate for such legislation in the General Assembly. Such a move would indicate they recognize the seriousness of the domestic violence problem in Carroll and Maryland, and want to be part of the solution.
In the meantime, we want to recognize those that continue to work toward raising awareness about domestic violence in our community and are doing all they can to help the victims, and hope to see those efforts continue in 2017.
