Page 55 - November 2020

Districts respond to increase awareness for domestic violence
n BY KAREN JENKINS
With the recent uptick in domestic violence incidents throughout the city during the pandemic, honoring the month of October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month throughout the Chicago Police Department districts felt more necessary than ever.
“In September, we started noticing that the incidents were in- creasing because, of course, everyone is stuck indoors and the ef- fects of that,” noted Yesenia Rodriguez, the domestic violence liaison officer in the 11th District. “So we did a COVID-19 domestic violence awareness webinar with the Cook County Justice Center and their team. We pretty much told them what was going on, and what re- sources they have during COVID-19 for who to reach out to and or- der of protection.”
Rodriguez, who’s been the domestic violence liaison officer for four years, works hard to share domestic violence resources to any- body in need in the community throughout the month of October. The 11th District held a number of events, including an awareness walk through Garfield Park on Oct. 14 and victim empowerment training on Oct. 28.
“What I want to get out there is that you’re not alone,” she said. “That’s the reason why I make follow-up calls [after a domestic vio- lence incident], because I know that sometimes if we give them the information but the incident is still happening, they’re under a lot of stress and they might not remember, ‘Oh, the officer that went to re- spond to my call, they gave me that domestic violence information.’”
Police districts across the city, particularly those with domestic violence subcommittees, held rallies, walks and other information- al events throughout the month of October to hopefully aid victims and prevent future incidents.
The 25th District held a domestic violence walk and rally on Oct. 7. The 14th District tied purple ribbons around the community on Oct. 11, and the 15th District did the same on Oct. 14 throughout the Austin District.
But 10th District domestic violence liaison Officer Christina Lu- cia, while applauding the broad support that Chicago Police Officers were able to drum up, feels as though the issue deserves more than a single month of awareness.
“I mean, it’s uplifting to see that people care and to get out there and see that people are interested,” Lucia said. “But it’s not enough. I’m having to go through and follow up on every single one of these case reports. It’s staggering, it’s like drinking from a fire hose — and this is just one district.”
With an average of 200 reported domestic violence cases every month in the 10th District — and that’s just the reported cases, not the total number of incidents — Lucia feels that Domestic Violence Awareness Month is crucial this year.
And Rodriguez is sure that with all the events that happened throughout Chicago in October, more victims are now able to get help while being stuck in their homes.
“I want to concentrate on domestic violence because I think it’s a major problem, and I think there’s definitely a way to help them out,” Rodriguez confirmed. “It’s important to stick to resources and mention to other officers, ‘Let’s just look out for each other and for the community.’ Look for the signs and get them the help.”
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