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DVERTing Domestic Violence: The Domestic Violence Enhanced Response Team

NCJ Number
171536
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 67 Issue: 6 Dated: (June 1998) Pages: 22-26
Author(s)
L C Kramer; H Black
Date Published
1998
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article describes the Domestic Violence Enhanced Response Team (DVERT) program.
Abstract
The Colorado Springs, CO, Police Department developed the DVERT program to combat domestic violence, to pool the resources of community organizations, to intervene in the most volatile cases, and to reach out to victims in rural areas. The department established a protocol to guide police officers during domestic violence calls and appointed a domestic violence coordinator. The Pikes Peak Domestic Violence Coalition Protocol Committee developed and distributed a questionnaire to evaluate the effectiveness of the community's domestic violence protocols as well as to identify significant issues and obstacles to their implementation. Survey results identified the need to: (1) improve and expand criminal justice programs and procedures to prosecute, convict and sentence domestic violence offenders; (2) better develop, preserve and present the legally relevant facts in domestic violence cases; (3) involve other community groups in creating and improving domestic violence prevention, treatment and prosecution; and (4) collect and analyze a large array of objective evidence to measure the effectiveness of current practices and provide a baseline for future evaluations. Notes