Domestic Violence—

Responding Quickly When

The Call For Help Comes

By John Voket

(This is the second half of a two-part story in The Bee’s continuing coverage of domestic violence issues.)

At 9 am last Monday morning, as Newtown’s Emergency Communications Director Maureen Will recalled her careerlong involvement working to reduce and mitigate the effects of domestic violence, some of her focus was understandably 3,000 miles away.

As she settled in behind her desk, within earshot of town dispatchers fielding calls and training a new staffer, she said she was closely following developments in what may have been America’s latest preventable tragedy involving domestic violence — the Josh Powell case in Seattle.

At that time, it had only been confirmed that Powell had separated himself and his two young sons from a social worker bringing them on a court-ordered supervised visitation, before he blew up his residence killing himself and the two children. Since then, it has been confirmed that emergency dispatchers who first fielded the social worker’s cellphone call for help did not immediately prioritize her call for emergency response.

As the case worker became increasingly frustrated with dispatchers, Powell had time to attack his young sons with an axe and set the gasoline-soaked home ablaze, setting off the explosion.

According to an Associated Press report, it took more than six minutes from the initial call for help — to the point where the house exploded — for dispatchers on the Seattle area call to initiate a priority response by police and fire departments.

Part of the problem was that the frantic social worker reportedly did not know the exact address of the Powell residence. But during that initial call, she explained that she smelled gasoline, and said a full four minutes into the call that the boys had been locked in the home for 10 minutes.

According to audio transcripts obtained by the AP, after six minutes on the call, a dispatcher said: “We’ll have somebody look for you there.”

“OK, how long will it be?” the woman responded.

“I don’t know, ma’am. We have to respond to emergency life-threatening situations first. The first available deputy ...”

The woman cut the dispatcher off, saying: “This could be life-threatening ... I’m afraid for their lives.”

It was also revealed February 7 that another 911 call was made to authorities by Powell’s sister prior to the explosion, tearfully telling dispatchers she received e-mails from her brother explaining what to do with his property and saying he couldn’t live without his sons.

Alina Powell told a dispatcher she feared her brother was going to do something because of pressure he faced after his wife, Susan, disappeared two years ago. Josh Powell was considered a “person of interest” in Susan’s Utah disappearance.

Localized Expertise, Training

It is a sure bet that the transcripts of these calls will become another training tool like the ones Ms Will already employs in her local training and professional development. When she came to the position in Newtown a couple of years ago after retiring as a captain on the Brookfield Police Department, Ms Will was already a champion against domestic violence.

She was one of the first police captains in Connecticut to be invited to attend a leadership institute on domestic violence conducted by the International Association of Chiefs of Police. And after a much more localized case in Torrington involving Tracey Thurman, when all of Connecticut’s police departments began rapidly upgrading their domestic and sexual violence training and protocols, Ms Will became certified to “train the trainers” in domestic violence prevention.

She was also instrumental in establishing the curriculum for Connecticut’s first law enforcement training program on domestic violence response.

In her current position, Ms Will is able to roll together all her practical and academic experience to help ensure an incident like the one that played out so tragically in Seattle last week never happens on her watch.

“Dispatchers are the first line of defense,” she said. “I tell them all that they hold people’s lives in their hands. People can live or die by the dispatchers’ actions…or inactions.”

She tries to help the communications professionals who take that first, and possibly only, call for help very seriously.

“Unless you walk in the shoes of a domestic violence survivor you don’t have a clue,” she said. “That’s why we teach people [in prevention workshops] that if you only have one shot to call for help, dial 911 — someone will come.”

She said even in the case of calls for help on cellphones, “we’ll do our damnedest to find you — our dispatchers are pretty savvy.”

‘Working The Record’

Ms Will said when any call comes in where there is even a hint or suspicion of domestic violence, Newtown’s dispatchers begin “working the record.”

“As they type the address of the call into our database, they can see an immediate history by location and name of those in the household. This information is mirrored on the mobile data terminals in responding cruisers,” she said. “At the same time, we are checking for weapon permits, warrants, restraining orders, all while trying to keep the person on the line.”

She said dispatchers also try to guide those who may be in danger to a safe location. And while her team is working with the caller, officers responding are prepared to employ appropriate aspects of the Newtown department’s comprehensive, 18-page procedural manual on domestic and family violence.

“Here’s an officer who is suddenly thrust into that heated moment,” Said Newtown police Chief Michael Kehoe. “And he or she has to use their training and best judgment to resolve the immediate issue. We recognize the potential for violence is there, and we have to go in with the goal of safeguarding all parties involved.”

Chief Kehoe said domestic violence calls are very stressful for responding officers.

“They know if they don’t take appropriate action, something really bad can happen,” he said. “And they know that there are no options sometimes, they have to make an arrest.”

He said on calls where domestic or family conflicts could be occurring, it is standard protocol to dispatch two officers and a supervisor.

“Within the space of asking a 911 caller a few questions, we can typically determine if it is a domestic call,” Chief Kehoe said of the local dispatch team.

Ms Will added that it is not always what the dispatcher hears in the background, or in the tone of voice of the caller, that could lead to a priority response.

“Sometimes it’s what they don’t hear,” Ms Will said. “Sometimes it’s just a gut feeling they may get based on what is happening or not happening in the background.”

According to the local response and training policy on domestic violence, the Newtown Police Department maintains a zero tolerance stance on domestic violence incidents.

“The Department will respond immediately to all reports of domestic violence and will thoroughly investigate these incidents,” the policy states. “The Department will strive to provide fair and compassionate services to victims and other persons affected by the turmoil of domestic violence. This agency will protect victims of domestic violence and provide them with relevant information regarding the availability of community services and support. In a family violence incident, if probable cause exists that a crime has occurred, the officer shall arrest the person suspected of committing the crime.”

(Associated Press content was used in this report.)