MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — Police can’t stop domestic violence alone. Neither can prosecutors, or the people who aid victims.
But by working together, police, prosecutors and advocates hope to eliminate abuse in Snohomish County.
A group of 27 officials and domestic violence experts came together June 4 for the first meeting of the south Snohomish County domestic violence task force.
“Domestic violence is a community issue, and we need to address it that way,” said Tammy McEleya, domestic violence coordinator for the Mountlake Terrace Police Department.
“There is an extreme amount of talent out there, and people are doing amazing things, but we’ve got to pool our resources,” she said.
A similar effort is under way at the county level, with the backing of the sheriff’s office and prosecutor’s office, said sheriff’s detective Dustyn Sain, who investigates domestic violence.
“We need to have one-stop shopping for victims of domestic violence in Snohomish County,” he said. This would be a single place that offers legal aid, housing assistance and safety planning. “I want to make it as easy as possible for them to get services.”
The local work is happening at a time when domestic violence is receiving statewide attention following the slaying of Crystal Brame, who was shot by her husband, Tacoma Police Chief David Brame, on April 26. David Brame then killed himself.
“If it wasn’t for Crystal, I wouldn’t have gotten to this point. There’s no way I’m going to let her die in vain,” said Cindy Anduha, a south county task force member who now speaks openly about how she escaped domestic violence.
Anduha, who also serves on Kirkland’s domestic violence task force, said she is excited to see a group started here.
“We need to catch up with King County,” she said.
Many of the domestic violence programs available in King County are not offered here, she said.
The south county task force will also focus on ways to catch abuse early, which is critical to preventing violence from escalating, McEleya said.
“We have had way too many (domestic-violence related) homicides in Snohomish County in the past year, and in the past four to five years. We’ve got to figure out why that’s happening,” she said.
On March 7, a 33-year-old Mukilteo man with a history of domestic-violence complaints shot and killed his 30-year-old wife before killing himself.
Two days later, an Everett man shot the woman he lived with, seriously injuring her, before killing himself.
Improving the communication between local agencies that deal with domestic violence is vital to preventing those kinds of cases, Sain said.
“We want to make it extremely difficult to be a batterer in Snohomish County,” he said. “If you beat your spouse or your child, we want you to know law enforcement will be involved.”
Katherine Schiffner is a reporter for the Herald in Everett.
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