Rolling Meadows Police Department Responds to Domestic Violence

By Danielle Ladehoff, Roosevelt University student

In 2010, the Rolling Meadows Police Department attended to over 250 cases involving domestic trouble and over 70 cases of domestic battery. Battling domestic violence cases is a daily occurrence for this town’s police force. To deal with this high number of domestic violence cases, Rolling Meadows Chief of Police, Dave Scanlan, has made special training for handling these types of cases a top priority for his force. Although their budget does not allow for a special team to handle domestic violence cases, the police officers of Rolling Meadows are well-equipped to sufficiently manage and properly handle the abusive person as well as care for the victim of the abuse or trouble.
For each domestic violence call, two officers must respond. To ensure the responding officers are well prepared for any domestic violence situation they are called to, they are briefed by the dispatcher on their way to the call. An extremely important piece of the debriefing includes any information about past offenses against the alleged abuser. In addition, the officers are told whether weapons or intoxication are involved so they can better prepare themselves potentially dangerous situations for themselves as well as the victim. The last important piece of information the responding officers receive include information as to who is involved in the domestic violence cases. If children were present at the time of the abuse, or involved, different measures of protection would be taken than if just adults were involved.
All this information is necessary to have prior to arrival so the officers can properly and efficiently assess the situation and have a planned approach to guarantee safety for the victims. Once the officers have arrived at the domestic violence call, they split the parties up and review and evaluate the situation. If the officers find probable cause, the abuser is arrested. Since the majority of domestic violence cases Rolling Meadows police officers see involve families with children, they have set in place safe havens for the victims. If the victims feel they need to seek immediate refuge, the Rolling Meadows police have connections to safe houses including catholic charities, Omni, Women in Need Growing Stronger, as well as court services. These places can offer protection to families or victims when staying in their house is no longer an option as they fight for their safety.
Depending on the case, the severity of injuries and circumstances surrounding the incident, the abuser can receive probation, supervision or jail time. If substance abuse is involved, which is very prominent in the domestic violence cases Rolling Meadows police handles, they may also be ordered to attend substance abuse programs. When children are involved, the police may contact the department of family services or be put in alternative housing to ensure their protection. Whomever the victim may be, they also have the right to seek an order of protection against their abuser. This forbids contact between the victim and the abuser, and allows the police to take action, including arrest if the order of protection does not keep the abuser away.
Due to the increase in domestic violence crimes and reoccurrence, Chief Dave Scanlan is fighting to get the budget for a social worker to become apart of his team. Having a social worker would provide more in-depth follow up with victims and families, and would help these victims during court trails. Furthermore, it would give victims an outlet to discuss their fears, wants, and needs throughout the entire process. It is a vital piece to the puzzle to give the utmost protection to victims who seek it, and those that are afraid of the repercussions. Chief Scanlan will keep preaching about the important role a social worker plays until he receives room in the budget to hire one. Until then, he continues to stress comprehensive training to his police force so they can protect victims in the best way possible.

Roosevelt University Students are learning about domestic violence in their Writing Social Justice course.