New, Kalamazoo County effort against domestic violence gains national partner
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — One of Kalamazoo County's top lawmen has a new national partner in an effort to curb a problem he says is plaguing West Michigan.
Prosecuting Attorney Jeff Getting said Monday that the county is working on a new approach to combating repeat domestic violence.
"It's going to be one of those issues that define our values," Getting said.
He said the Allstate Foundation decided to help. The foundation has donated $10,000 toward the hosting of a Domestic Violence Summit in Kalamazoo County in October. The foundation, the charitable arm of the Allstate Insurance Company, lists ending domestic violence as one of its top four objectives.
Getting said the donation is a big step in his goal to establish a Domestic Violence Trauma Court in Kalamazoo County.
The court would break the cycle of imprisoning repeat offenders, Getting said, by offering offenders counseling and treatment to address the root cause of why they hurt the people in their lives.
"What we're doing works most of the time, but 300 times out of the year, I'm going to have a repeat case," Getting said.
The county prosecutor's office said it processes 1,000 domestic violence cases each year. Of those 1,000 cases, Getting said, 300 involve repeat offenders.
"That intervention did not work," Getting said, "... and that's a huge failure, that's a huge failure for the victims of domestic violence."
"We can't continue to not do something, "Getting said. "Not doing something different than we're doing now, that allows this to continue on and on and on."
Getting said it will take funding on the local and state levels to see the Domestic Violence Trauma Court become a reality.
"In the end, you're talking about a program that will cost several hundred thousand dollars a year," Getting said.
