Metro scores well during domestic violence sweep

Thursday, Oct. 14, 2004 | 9:39 a.m.

Law enforcement officials nationwide last week went out looking for 1,100 domestic violence suspects and caught 435 of them in a single day, police said.

Statistically, Metro Police have about twice as much success by nabbing eight of the 10 suspects it sought during last Thursday's sweep, Metro said Wednesday.

It was Metro's first year participating in the second Family Violence Apprehension Detail organized by the Clackamas County, Ore., Sheriff's Office. The crackdown involved 116 sheriff's departments and 137 police departments in 40 states.

"Most of the suspects were arrested on warrants and were at the addresses we had been given as where they were believed to be living," said Police Sgt. Chuck Pierce of the Crimes Against Youth and Family Domestic Violence Unit.

"All were felony suspects who had slipped through the cracks. Some said they did not know they had warrants on them."

Pierce said the reason the seven men and one woman were not picked up previously is because patrol officers often are too busy responding to crimes in progress and do not always have time to round up suspects on warrants unless they are passing by the area where the suspects are believed to be staying.

Kathleen Brooks, associate director for Safe Nest, a 28-year-old organization and the largest domestic violence program in the state, said while the police sweep was a good step, much more needs to be done on a daily basis.

"The difficulty here is that police do have too much work to do because of our population explosion, and often domestic violence goes to the bottom of the list of priorities," she said.

Also, I'd like to see a much better response to domestic violence from prosecutors and judges as well as more training for officers."

Of the local suspects placed in custody at the Clark County Detention Center, seven remained in custody Wednesday. Listed are their ages, the crimes for which they are charged, their bail and court hearings dates:

A ninth suspect on the list has since been captured, but his name and details were not immediately available, Pierce said. Police did not release the name or details on the 10th suspect sought in the sweep, who remained at large.

Police nationwide made arrests on charges ranging from harassment to murder.

"This collaborative effort hopes to raise awareness about the problem of family and domestic violence in our communities and demonstrate to offenders that they will be held accountable for their violence and increase the safety of their victims," the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office said on its Web site.