Disturbing News From Lincoln County... (section 8, violent crime, lawyer)

[virginia farm girl]

In a discussion about a conference Dep. Communications Director Kathy Blagdon attended recently, Pellerin informed the board that she learned new things about 9-1-1 calls concerning suicide and domestic violence.

The county receives several domestic violence calls every week. "It's very high," he said.

The Lincoln County News

Volume 45 Issue 133

November 08, 2008

A sad state of affairs...

[deerislesmile]

Every 24 hours in Maine...

-there are 128 calls made to Domestic Abuse hotlines.

-228 victims of domestic abuse are finding refuge in emergency or transitional housing. Many of those return to the abusive home due to a lack of availibility of transitional housing or even low-income/Section 8 housing.

-243 adults and children are provided with non-residential services such as counseling and legal advocacy

-34 victims will be TURNED AWAY FROM ANY HELP due to a lack of resources.

Welcome to the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence

[dmyankee]

Anyone know how this stacks up percentage wise with the other New England States?

[CoastalMaine]

I have no stats on the rest of NE, but the Cape has always had a higher rate of suicide, depression, alcohol/drug abuse, as well as domestic abuse. Because we're so isolated out here, even with our population having doubled in 25 years, it's still pretty remote and desolate in the winter especially.

Study finds depression & substance abuse rates high on Cape - Provincetown, MA - Wicked Local Provincetown

[virginia farm girl]

Originally Posted by deerislesmile

Every 24 hours in Maine...

-there are 128 calls made to Domestic Abuse hotlines.

-228 victims of domestic abuse are finding refuge in emergency or transitional housing. Many of those return to the abusive home due to a lack of availibility of transitional housing or even low-income/Section 8 housing.

-243 adults and children are provided with non-residential services such as counseling and legal advocacy

-34 victims will be TURNED AWAY FROM ANY HELP due to a lack of resources.

Welcome to the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence

[Elcarim]

To gain true perspective, you have to compare to other areas. One person's idea of "very high" is NOT going to equal someone else's, I'd be willing to bet.

[Zymer]

Originally Posted by Elcarim

To gain true perspective, you have to compare to other areas. One person's idea of "very high" is NOT going to equal someone else's, I'd be willing to bet.

Yes, it's a subjective opinion based on the individual's perception which may or may not be accurate.

In addition, one has to weed out the calls that are made by people who are simply p*ssed off at partners/parents and are calling because they know they can cause trouble just by making the accusation.

Now, *before* someone gets a bee in their bonnet about what percentage of these calls might be "revenge" calls, I'll state that I don't have any hard figures on it, but I *do* know that they happen. In one instance I was present for, a friend of mine had a 15 year old daughter who was hanging out with a group of older "kids" in the 18-22 year range. They were drinking and doing drugs and that sort of thing. I can't imagine any "good" parent who wants to see a young daughter in that sort of situation, no good can come of it. But when my friend tried to lay down the law about this behavior, the daughter's response was "I'm going to do what I want and if you try to stop me I'm going to call DSS and tell them you're abusing me."

I also saw a guy go to jail for alleged "abuse" when the only "witness" could not possibly have seen what was claimed. This guy made two mistakes- taking up with a gold-digger looking to get her hands on his son's trust fund, and trusting the "system" and a lawyer who, aside from being an idiot, had personal/mental problems (and had, in fact, withdrawn from other cases during that same time period for that reason).

That said, I'm sure that there are plenty of legitimate calls, and as the economic situation gets worse, the incidence increases. People get depressed at their situation and many tend to drink more in the face of a situation where they perceive that they are lacking the ability to improve it. Drinking, depression, disagreements and frustration result in increased violence, especially in situations where people are living in close quarters for long periods of time. People are territorial and don't want to leave "home" ground, and alcohol loosens inhibitions. Tempers flare and people act in ways that they ordinarilly wouldn't.

[peachie_in_maine]

deleted.

[Elcarim]

In our community, domestic dispute calls are very common. They are divided into two categories - physical altercations and simple arguments with accelerated yelling where the neighbors actually call in.

I had DH call dispatch last night to get a true picture of the problem in this area. Mind you, we are a high violent crime area just outside the city limits of Houston. We have about two dozen domestic calls a day for this small population of 8500 within our city limits, but most of those are just the yelling calls where neighbors are concerned that violence may escalate.

Just be sure, before forming an opinion about a particular issue, that you base that opinion on facts and statistics. Chances are, it's not nearly as bad as you may think.

[Zymer]

Originally Posted by Elcarim

In our community, domestic dispute calls are very common. They are divided into two categories - physical altercations and simple arguments with accelerated yelling where the neighbors actually call in.

LOL, I've been worried about that from time to time. My wife is Greek/Irish and I'm Scot/Irish and we can get pretty loud, in addition, we occasionally break things like dishes and coffee mugs. I'm sure it *sounds* pretty bad, but no one is getting hurt. Then, there are the occasions where we are doing the complete *opposite* of fighting and...ummmmm...*that* can get pretty loud too.