Rise and Johnson City Police Department Announce New Domestic Violence Advocacy Service - (12/27/2019)
The Johnson City Police Department and Rise are pleased to announce a new three-year program to commence in mid-October, Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The Johnson City Police Department recently received a federal Office of Justice Programs/Office of Victims of Crime grant to provide an advocate to work with domestic violence victims. Johnson City was one of only 80 law enforcement agencies to receive this competitive grant nationwide. This three-year program will be carried out in collaboration with Rise (the d/b/a of SOS Shelter, Inc.).
The Johnson City Police Department responded to 869 domestic incidents last year. Since domestic violence often goes unreported, the true incidence is likely to be much higher. Rise is Broome County’s only licensed domestic violence provider and has provided comprehensive services since 1979, when it opened one of the first domestic violence shelters in New York State. Rise Executive Director Nicole Barren reported that Rise provided non-residential services to 1,740 survivors in Broome County last year with 219 individuals receiving shelter services.
This new advocate position will train police, consult on domestic cases, co-respond to domestic and hospital calls, follow-up with victims for Domestic Incident and other police reports, offer support, advocacy and other services to victims, and connect them with community resources. The goals of this program are to promote perpetrator accountability, reduce repeat domestic calls to the same household by offering higher quality support, and to help victims access services. The Johnson City Police Department and Rise are confident that a victim specialist program will contribute to a trauma-informed approach at JCPD and will hopefully increase community safety.
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