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4 - The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday February 21, 2009 www.oakvillebeaver.com STUDIO ONE DESIGN & BUILD INC. Unfortunately, no shortage of calls for Domestic Violence Investigative Unit By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF BASEMENTS ADDITIONS WINDOWS · Licensed · Insured · WSIB I Over 20 years experience Featured contractor on popular home revovation show 905-257-3092 1715 Lakeshore Rd. W. 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Of these 150 calls, many turned out to be little more than heated arguments between husband and wife and were defused by uniformed officers. However, around 49 of these incidents ended with criminal charges being laid and it is here that the DVI Unit becomes involved. "Front line officers respond to the home first and if grounds are formed that an offense has taken place, they make the arrest and then our unit responds," said Detective Stephanie Miloknay, DVI unit. "Typically we will interview the victim first and do a sworn video statement with her because we need to understand the allegations in as much detail as possible before we make any attempt to interview the person who is under arrest." Miloknay noted that during the interview with the victim officers will try to determine if there is a past history of domestic violence and if there are any additional charges that need to be laid. These interviews could also extend to children, who were present at the time of the incident, and neighbours who may know about other incidents. Medical records may also be examined as police try to come to a richer understanding of how extensive the domestic violence may be and what level of risk the victim is at. With the DVI Unit taking on all this work, the region's front line officers are free to handle other situations. The Halton Police DVI Unit is one of only three DVI Units in existence in Ontario. Established in January, the unit is comprised of 19 officers and was formed following recommendations from the Ontario Chief Coroner's Office Domestic Violence Death Review Committee, of which Halton Police Chief Gary Crowell was a member. Detective Staff Sergeant Peter Hodgson, of the DVI noted, that having a unit dedicated to dealing with domestic violence in Halton just makes sense. "We have a very safe community and we want to keep it that way," he said. "One of the biggest causes of violent death, outside the City of Toronto, is domestic violence." Hodgson said the relative wealth found in the Halton area is not a deterrent to domestic violence, which crosses all economic, race and age boundaries. Just last month, a Burlington man "Our investigators are pretty well trained to develop a rapport with the victim. We set them at ease and make them understand how the system works, so they can move beyond that initial fear and realize that what is happening is the best for everybody involved. To get through this, they need to work along with us." Detective Staff Sergeant Peter Hodgson, Domestic Violence Investigative Unit was arrested for allegedly trying to harm his allergy-prone ex-fiancée by smearing peanut butter on her door handle. Only days before that an Oakville man was arrested after he allegedly threw a telephone at his wife, which missed her and hit her two-year-old daughter in the face. The child required 20 stitches to close a severe cut to her upper lip. While there is no set formula to the circumstances where domestic violence flourishes, Hodgson noted, the dynamic is usually the same with women being abused by a male partner or ex-partner. Incidents of men being abused by women do happen, he noted, but are far less frequent and are also sometimes less than genuine. "What we have to look at is who the aggressor is. If you're 6-foot-4 big hulking male and I'm a smaller woman and you come towards me in a very threatening way, I push you away to get away from you. Now we've had people claim that's an assault, but it's not an assault it's self defence," said Hodgson. "Also, sometimes these guys seem to think that the first person who makes that call to the police will be treated like the victim, but that's not the case. It doesn't matter who calls us, we're going to do a thorough investigation and that investigation will determine who should be charged." During the course of an investigation, getting the victim's statement about what happened is deeply important, but can be a major challenge. Hodgson said even when the victim calls police they may still recant their story after the repercussions of what they've done begins to sink in. Fear for their safety, financial concerns, guilt and numerous other issues can cause a victim to say an assault never happened. "Our investigators are pretty well trained to develop a rapport with the victim. We set them at ease and make them understand how the system works, so they can move beyond that initial fear and realize that what is happening is the best for everybody involved," said Hodgson. "To get through this, they need to work along with us." Even when the victim does not cooperate, that's not necessarily the end of the investigation, Hodgson noted. Broken furniture, reports from neighbours, bruising or other obvious injuries to the victim can all be used to build a case against an abusive partner. Such detailed investigation represents an astonishing change to the way police handled domestic abuse only a few short decades ago. "When I first started policing, society used to treat domestic violence as a family matter and so did we. We used to go to these calls and unless the person was really badly injured we'd say, `If you want to lay a charge, go see a justice of the peace in the morning," said Hodgson. "Looking back I find it embarrassing that we did that." With those days now long gone, Hodgson notes he gets great satisfaction from his current work. Rather than focusing on the sad situation of the victim at the start of an investigation, Hodgson prefers to reflect on the situation he leaves them with. This is true of one special investigation Hodgson holds close to his heart. "I was a relief investigator to this one case where a woman was raped and badly beaten in front of her children by someone she had a relationship with in the past and we were able to quite quickly charge this man. He was convicted and deemed to be a dangerous offender and he was sent to jail for an indeterminate amount of time," said Hodgson. "I found that to be quite a rewarding case. You get to know the victim's family, I still run into them every now and again. It's rewarding to help people who are victimized. Anything you can do to make the court process easier for them, I find very rewarding."