street roots
June 22, 2012
Good news, bad news in the war against domestic violence
BY GREG STEW ART
C O N T R IB U T IN G C O L U M N IS T
Greg Stewart is a
sergeant with the
Portland Police
Bureau. He currently
supervises the Crime
Analysis Unit which
tracks crime and
other issues
impacting public
safety in the city of
Portland.
here is a disproportionately large and
vastly underestimated impact of
domestic violence on public safety.
Just how widespread is the impact of
domestic violence? First, the bad news: In
2001 domestic violence accounted 48
percent, nearly half, of all reported assaults
in the city of Portland. Think about that. In
2001, if you were assaulted in this city there
were basically equal odds that a family
member or intimate partner was
responsible. Even in the most serious
assaults, termed aggravated assaults, 34
percent were related to domestic violence.
Homicides? In most years about a quarter of
all homicides are related to domestic
violence.
Again, in terms of serious violence, really
only gang violence can compare with
domestic violence and even then, domestic
violence is more prevalent in total numbers.
Furthermore, if one examines the criminal
history of gang members it quickly becomes
apparent that the distinction between gang
and domestic violence is spurious. Not
surprisingly, gang violence intersects with
domestic violence. In an analysis of the
domestic violence offenders in Portland,
nearly 32 percent had a history of gang
involvement. Individuals with a history of
T
gang involvement number are less than 0.5
percent of the population of Portland but
account for about 4.5 percent of all reported
domestic violence, and as mentioned above
are even more misrepresented as repeat
offenders. Sadly, but perhaps not
surprisingly, violence begins at home.
Through a tremendous amount of hard
work and dedication by community groups,
advocates, members of the city and county
councils and the criminal justice system we
have made some headway.
The number of assaults related to
domestic violence has shrunk from over
3,600 assaults in 2001 to 2,500 in 2011, a
nearly 30 percent drop. Though that still
means there are about seven domestic
assaults a day reported in the City of
Portland - and probably many more
unreported. As a proportion of assaults,
domestic violence has fallen from 48
percent of assaults to 42 percent, meaning
that we have been able to reduce the
number of domestic violence assaults faster
than other assaults. This is the “good
news.”
But let’s think about that. The “good
news” is that in 2011, only 42 percent of
assaults are related to domestic violence. I
suspect the citizens of Portland would find
that number unacceptable.
And even these numbers underestimate
the scope of this issue. These numbers are
“reported crime.” Guess what, most
domestic violence is not reported. The
numbers captured are a small portion of the
overall problem.
Like most violent
crime the number of
domestic violence
As of A p ril 15, domestic
assaults has fallen
violence crime is up nearly 6
dramatically over the
percent citywide, aggravated
last 10 years.
Unfortunately that
assaults are up an
trend may be at an
astonishing 36 percent.
end. As of April 15,
domestic violence
crime is up nearly 6
percent citywide, aggravated assaults are up
an astonishing 36 percent. The State of
Oregon has had 25 fatalities (homicides and/
or homicide-suicides) so far in 2012. This
includes several incidents where the
homicides occurred with children present in
the home at the time of homicide and,
tragically, an incident in which a husband
killed his wife and their three children.
While good work has been done, clearly
there is still a long way to go — both to keep
the gains we have made and continue to
reduce the impact of domestic violence.
Part of this process is making the public
aware of the impact of domestic violence.
Portland
Rain of Tears
By Leo Rhodes
The rain comes down each day worse than the day before
I try to prevent my clothes from getting wet.
Right now they’re damp
A breeze comes
Sending a cold, damp chill
Right to my bones
w
How I wish for dry clothes
And a nice, safe, dry, warm place.
Now I have a place, were I’m safe, warm and dry
I try to get the awful memories out of my head
Eating my dinner and watching television.
With my shutters closed
I try to ignore the constant tapping on my window
As the wind and rain rage outside
Opening the shutters I see the tree outside my window
With its glissading contours
Amplified by the rain and the streetlights close by.
The tree seems to be waving at me
As the wind blows through its limbs.
Then I notice the big raindrops coming down all around outside.
Some of the raindrops hit my window
I watch as they slowly trickle down the length of the window
Reminding me of the many tear drops
I shared with my brothers and sisters on the streets.
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