Saco Police Department begins new program

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A Newsletter by the City of Saco, Maine	July, 2009	Return to newsletter index

Domestic violence is an insidious problem in society that transcends all demographic categories-economic, ethnicity, religion, educational and any other definition one wishes to include. Society, often through the efforts of the police and women's groups, have attempted with varying degrees of success to eliminate this serious problem.

While studying the problem this past year the police department learned of a different approach, one that creates a statistically valid way to predict the danger of recidivism-that is, the likelihood of re-offending-among male offenders. Since studies prove that male-on-female violence is the most common and the most likely to result in injury requiring medical treatment, this new approach seemed to fit our needs perfectly. Another plus for us is that this approach is different. We were frustrated with programs that recycled the same tired methods of reducing domestic violence and wanted to try a radical, fresh idea.

The Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA) was developed in Canada and is based upon more than 500 cases in which male offenders were arrested for assaulting their female domestic partners. A battery of questions and substantial research into criminal backgrounds eventually elicited a short list of queries that will predict recidivism with a very high degree of accuracy.

The resulting score is then used by officers to request higher bail from bail commissioners. At court prosecutors will use the scoring system to either keep perpetrators in jail longer or to request additional conditions pending trial. Police will follow up with at-home visits with funds provided by the Bureau of Justice Assistance to make sure that conditions are being adhered to. ODARA currently applies to male-on-female violence, but research is currently being done to test its accuracy in predicting other types of domestic violence, such as female-on-male and same-sex assaults.

In early June every officer of the police department received a full day of training that included an explanation of the scoring system and a discussion about the thirteen questions that make up the questionnaire. To complete the course and receive certification, officers scored actual cases to test their knowledge.

Saco Police are partnering with women's groups and the York County District Attorney's office and are proud to be the sponsoring agency for the first full-scale ODARA pilot project in Maine.