Accountable for violence

By Cass Rains, Staff Writer

October 11, 2008 12:20 am

— October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and for more than 10 years District Attorney Cathy Stocker’s office has prosecuted domestic violence-related crimes by working with 16 Enid agencies and organizations as part of Garfield County Domestic Violence task force.
“In Oklahoma, we have laws intended to hold batterers accountable for their actions by bringing them to justice; but, sometimes laws alone are not enough to solve the underlying problems,” Stocker said. “There must be a coordinated effort between prosecutors, law enforcement agencies and others. In Garfield County everyone is working together on this issue.”
In 1996 Stocker began a special domestic violence prosecution program with the aid of a federal subgrant from the Stop Violence Against Women Act, which has been renewed annually since.
The approach of the program is to ensure prosecutors are specially trained in the area of domestic violence and understand the special issues of such cases. The prosecution program is designed to prosecute cases of domestic violence whenever possible, even without the cooperation of the victim.
“Over the last several years much training has been available in the area of domestic violence for law enforcement officers and prosecutors,” Stocker said. “All of us strive to develop prosecutable cases that are not dependent upon the victim’s cooperation.”
One goal of the program is for the prosecutors to meet with any willing victim to discuss the court process and to provide information about services that may be available to the victim. Also, a treatment program to bring about the cessation of domestic violence is recommended as part of the sentence for those convicted.
Stocker’s new domestic violence prosecutor for Gar-field County is Assistant District Attorney Irene Asai, who formerly headed the Domestic Violence Unit in the Tulsa County District At-torney’s Office.
“I am so excited to have Irene on my staff,” Stocker said. “She has a wealth of experience both as a prosecutor and in the area of domestic violence.”
Between Jan. 1 and June 30 this year, the domestic violence prosecutor in Stock-er’s Garfield County office filed 112 cases of domestic violence. The prosecutor met with 77 of the victims in those cases, or more than 68 percent.
“We attempt to make personal contact with every victim of domestic violence and treat each one with respect and dignity regardless of whether that person eventually testifies in court,” Asai said.
The Garfield County Domestic Violence Task Force meets regularly throughout the year to address issues relating to its mission of ending domestic violence in Garfield County.
The task force develops various projects to increase awareness of domestic violence issues, to improve enforcement and prosecution of domestic violence laws, and to provide services to those who suffer from domestic violence.
Stocker, together with other prosecutors on her staff and her victim witness coordinator, serve on the task force along with individuals representing the Enid Police Department, YWCA, Enid Public Schools, Garfield County Health Department, Garfield County Department of Human Services, Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma De-partment of Corrections, Enid Catholic Charities, Hope Outreach, Northern Oklahoma College, Northwestern Okla-homa State University, Gar-field County Child Advocacy Council, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner, St. Mary’s Region-al Medical Center, United Way, Youth and Family Services, Garfield County Sheriff’s Office, Batterers’ Intervention Program and Office of Juvenile Affairs.