Report Examines Domestic Violence In Meck County

A new report titled “If You Leave Me, I Will Kill You” takes an in-depth look at domestic violence in Mecklenburg County.

PDF: 2011 'If You Leave Me, I'll Kill You' Report

A team of experts was formed as a result of state law to tackle the issue and come up with solutions.

Domestic violence leads to an average of eight deaths in Mecklenburg County each year and, this year, aggravated assaults are trending up about 5 percent.

Eyewitness News rode along with police officers recently, and they got two domestic violence calls in just 45 minutes.

One call involved a dispute between a man and his girlfriend. The woman said her boyfriend was intoxicated and that he punched her in the face. He denied her claim.

Officers said there were no bruises and no witnesses, so they didn’t make an arrest. But they told the woman she could seek a warrant.

“At this point, she will be taken to a family member’s (house) and she's supposed to go to a magistrate, and hopefully she will go,” said Officer Aimee Aquino.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department got 35,000 domestic violence calls last year. That means the department deals with nearly 100 a day, with no way to tell which ones will turn deadly.

Retired judge Jane Harper just reviewed four of Mecklenburg County's fatal cases from last year. Two women were strangled to death, one was beaten to death and another died from gunshot wounds.

“None of those people deserved to die the way they did,” Harper said.

In the new report, a special team of investigators dissected the four tragedies and made recommendations that could save lives. One big takeaway was that they said police officers need more training.

“They are only required now to get 12 hours of domestic violence training as recruits, and veteran officers only required to take another two hours,” Harper said.

The team suggested more training in how to determine who the primary aggressor is, how to identify assaults when there is no physical evidence and how to refer victims to the right agencies to get help.

Capt. Pete Davis agreed that more training would be helpful, but it's not without challenges.

“Anytime you have an officer attend mandatory training, that's time taking an officer off the street,” Davis said.

He added: “We'll look at the recommendations and evaluate it.”

Harper was understanding, but she and others think the reform is urgent.

“We appreciate that it's hard to get time for training; however, training needs to be happening,” Harper said. “Of the 35,000 calls every year, only a handful end up dead. That's way too many -- any are too many.”

More Information: Statistics On Domestic Violence From United Family ServicesCMPD's Domestic Violence Unit