Navajo Co. sets up centers to serve victims of domestic violence

The Navajo County attorney's office plans to open two family advocacy centers dedicated to help reduce the trauma suffered by victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse and child abuse.

They are the latest in a multi-pronged effort by the office to reduce violence against residents in the county, a long narrow stretch of mostly rural land north of the Mogollon Rim.

The first center will open next month in Show Low and the second one will open in Holbrook in August.

The centers will end the need for victims to recount their abuse again and again to different authorities, which often makes them feel like they are the ones under suspicion, said Pam Rodriguez, community services director for the county attorney's office.

Instead of doing multiple interviews with law enforcement, medical and prosecution officials, a victim will need to do just one interview with a multi-disciplinary team, Rodriguez said.

"It's a one-stop facility to minimize trauma and begin the healing," she said. "The team members are professionals who are committed to working with victims of crimes, especially domestic violence and child sexual abuse, with understanding and sensitivity."

As soon as a police officer knows someone is an abuse victim, he or she will alert the team members, who include a forensic medical examiner, a forensic interviewer, a prosecutor, counselor, and victim advocate.

The team meets with the victim at the same time, covering all the steps necessary to undertake an investigation and prosecution. Victims are referred to the White Mountain Safe House in Pinetop, Ariz., for assistance in healing their trauma and rebuilding their lives.

Family advocacy centers have existed nationally for a number a years but small counties and communities often don't have one because they can't afford to build or rent space for it, said Navajo County Attorney Brad Carlyon. Currently the only one in Navajo County operates out of the safe house and it mainly provides referrals for various types of assistance.

Carlyon brainstormed with other professionals in the field of domestic violence, child abuse, and sexual abuse and came up with a solution for Navajo County that keeps costs to a minimum.

Show Low was about to open a new government facility and so the group asked the city to set aside three rooms for a family advocacy center, he said. The space will be used as a "soft interview room" - a reassuring place where a victim can talk frankly with all the officials involved in the case.

Show Low is donating the space rent-free, Carlyon said.

The Holbrook center will be located in the new North Country Healthcare facility, thanks to a pediatrician there who was part of Carlyon's brainstorming team.

Slow motion from tribe

But the Navajo Nation's slow-paced style of government has so far thwarted a corollary effort to cross-deputize tribal and county law enforcement, despite efforts by three county sheriffs - two of them Navajo - and supporting resolutions from many chapters.

The Navajo Nation also has been iffy about using Navajo County's family advocacy centers, despite an invitation from Carlyon. In contrast, the FBI has asked to use them for cases involving Navajo and Hopi abuse victims, he said.

"I talked with the Navajo police department and offered the use of the centers," Carlyon said. "They haven't committed."

Meanwhile, Navajo County Sheriff Kelly "KC" Clark - a Navajo - has stationed a deputy full-time in Piñon to assist tribal police in the northern part of the county, Carlyon noted.

Apache County Sheriff Joseph Dedman Jr. and Coconino County Sheriff Bill Pribil "have been trying to work" with the Navajo Nation on cross-deputization so the sheriff's offices can provide support to the Navajo police, he said.

"We got as far as (former Navajo Nation Public Safety Director) Sampson Cowboy signing off and then it got stuck in the (Navajo) Department of Justice," Carlyon said, referring to the administration of former President Joe Shirley Jr.

After President Ben Shelly took office in January, Carlyon, Clark and U.S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke met with Shelly's new public safety director, John Billison, about reviving the cross-deputization agreement.

Carlyon characterized Billison as strongly supportive of the idea, but efforts to interview Billison about domestic violence cases and cross-deputization have been unsuccessful.

On April 1 the Navajo Times asked him for an interview but he referred the request to Shelly's spokeswoman Charmaine Jackson, who he said has told division directors that all media requests must go through her.

As of press time Wednesday, the Times had not heard back from Jackson or Billison.

Multiple approaches

Even with the added effort to help victims of abuse, Carlyon knows he's facing an uphill battle to relieve communities of such crime.

"The dynamics of domestic violence cases are just tough and sad," he said.

Carlyon recalled that as a young prosecutor, "I'd get frustrated at (domestic violence) victims, not understanding the true dynamics, the manipulations. It took me a few more years to understand, which is why I have more passion in prosecuting."

In an effort to overcome the common problem of abuse victims recanting their testimony, Carlyon's office works with law enforcement to make sure officers record the victim's statements when they respond to a domestic violence call.

That way prosecutors have evidence of the crime even if the victim, whether through fear or misguided allegiance, starts covering for the abuser.

"Even though the case looks difficult because the victim is going to recant, that typically is not the basis to dismiss," Carlyon emphasized. "We plow forward with it so the community and victims know we take domestic violence seriously."

He's also trying a new approach with convicted abusers, aimed at helping them get to the root of their problem and avoid committing further violence. Carlyon said his office has established a domestic violence court that is modeled on the better-known drug courts.

A first-time offender is given the option of participating in a one-year program that results in the removal of the domestic violence conviction from the offender's police record.

The perpetrator goes through 26 group sessions at the county attorney's office in Holbrook. A probation surveillance officer monitors the situation by showing up unannounced at the home throughout the year to make sure the victim is OK, Carlyon said.

He said if a substance abuse problem is suspected, the perpetrator must wear SCRAM ("secure continuous remote alcohol monitor") bracelet on the ankle, which shows location and alcohol level.

It's too early to judge the effectiveness of the pilot program for offenders, Carlyon said, but so far, so good.

"Those that graduated have not returned," he said.

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