Editorial: Fighting violence at home

Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2006 | 7:10 a.m.

Nevada's domestic violence rate is consistently among the worst in the nation, with Metro Police expected to handle about 24,000 cases this year.

Southern Nevada's domestic violence cases increase 8 percent to 10 percent annually. According to a story Sunday by the Las Vegas Sun, law enforcement officials say the increase is partly because of population growth. However, as experts told reporter Sam Skolnik, domestic violence also is exacerbated because Nevada has high rates of gambling addiction and drug use, 24-hour drinking and a highly transient population.

Those who advocate on behalf of victims say that despite Nevada's high number of cases - domestic violence agencies were contacted more than 59,000 times statewide last year - some progress is being made. Laws have been strengthened so that the onus of lodging charges rests with police, rather than victims. And the definition of the crime now includes couples who are dating, formerly dated or are related through marriage.

Metro has increased the number of domestic violence detectives from just one in 1995 to the current staff of 16, and the district attorney's office is more aggressively pursuing the cases through the court system. The Nevada Supreme Court also required extra training for 45 Southern Nevada judges to improve their decision-making skills in domestic violence cases.

These are laudable achievements on the part of state lawmakers, police and the court system. But domestic violence experts also told the Sun that police still aren't always determining which party is the primary aggressor in cases where both people are injured. Too often, the victim also is arrested.

While some increases in crime are bound to accompany population growth, Southern Nevada's domestic violence cases shouldn't be increasing by 2,000 or more annually. Police agencies must continue improving domestic violence training for detectives and regularly review their needs to make sure there are enough officers to do the job. Judges also must appropriately punish even first-time batterers, recognizing that domestic violence is, in fact, a crime.