New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly today announced an agreement with the City's District Attorneys regarding a new protocol for sharing the Department's Domestic Incident Response Database. This agreement also includes the New York City Department of Probation and the New York State Division of Parole. These offices will now have access to a vital tool for the prosecution and investigation of perpetrators of domestic violence.

The Domestic Incident Response Database provides a city-wide history of both domestic violence perpetrators and their victims. A report is entered into the database after every domestic violence call regardless of whether or not an arrest was made. Each entry in the database includes the name of the victim, the name of the offender, charges or offenses, prior incidents of domestic violence, a description of the circumstances and the names of everyone present at the scene. The database can be used to establish patterns of individuals or can be analyzed for larger trends.

Commissioner Kelly's announcement was part of the Domestic Violence Recognition Awards held at One Police Plaza. The ceremony honored 28 members of the New York City Police Department for their commitment in the battle against domestic violence, as well as recognizing them for the help they provide to the victims of these crimes.

Commissioner Kelly said: "This initiative lends added power to our efforts to pursue perpetrators of domestic violence with all the tools at our disposal. By enabling prosecutors and the police to search the database of repeat offenses, we can ensure that domestic violence offenders are punished to the fullest extent of the law. In so doing, we can also better protect the victims and police."

The importance of this announcement is underscored by the Department's tragic loss on September 10, 2004 when Detectives Robert Parker and Patrick Rafferty were slain after responding to a domestic violence call in Brooklyn. Domestic violence permeates every level of society from the victims to those determined to protect them.

The impact of domestic violence in New York City is felt most strongly by women. A recent department study showed that between the years 1995 and 2002, domestic violence was the cause of more than one-third of all female homicides. The numbers are equally high for other serious crimes. For this year, domestic violence resulted in 22% of the felony assaults against women and 24% of the rapes.

The Department utilizes a variety of new technologies to combat this trend. Prosecutions are now strengthened by a new digital 911 system. District Attorneys can receive an electronic file of any domestic violence call for use in enhancing their cases.

Digital photography has also proved indispensable in the fight against domestic violence. After incidents of domestic violence, digital pictures of the victims are sent to the District Attorneys to aid prosecution. The photos are also on the Department's mainframe database which will be accessible to every precinct and district attorneys' office by the end of 2005.

The "Language Line" is another program that the Department is expanding. Designed as special cell phones, these devices are placed in patrol cars and provide responding officers with the ability to connect to translators of over 150 languages. All supervisors' cars will have these phones by the end of 2004.

Proven crime fighting methods such as the Department's Compstat meetings are also being tailored for domestic violence crimes. A new bi-weekly domestic violence Compstat meeting has been instituted. This is in addition to the normal review of domestic violence numbers at the regular weekly Compstat meetings.

The Department's initiatives are already beginning to show some positive results. Over the past three years, there has been a 28% drop in the total number of domestic crimes. In the same period of time, there has been a 67% increase in successful home visits to victims of domestic violence.

The following members of the Department were honored at this afternoon's ceremony:

Sergeant Jacqueline Bourne 78 Precinct
Sergeant Gerald Logan PSA 9
Detective Hilda Alequin 34 Precinct Squad
Detective Richard Biglin 43 Precinct Squad
Detective Oscar Cardenty 46 Precinct Squad
Detective Alan Chieco 110 Precinct
Detective Mark Donato 102 Precinct Squad
Detective John Flood 44 Precinct Squad
Detective Alan Macpherson 115 Precinct Squad
Detective Lydia Martinez Special Victims Division
Detective Cheryl Melchionna 60 Precinct
Detective Ronald Pereira 43 Precinct Squad
Detective Karen Pisano PBSI Housing Unit
Detective Glenn Whitter 52 Precinct Squad
Detective Nancy Yule DBM Warrants
Police Officer Steven Aversano 122 Precinct
Police Officer David Binder PSA 6
Police Officer Nayda Caban PSA 3
Police Officer James Cassano PSA 2
Police Officer Gregg Comparetto PSA 7
Police Officer Pedro Flores 75 Precinct
Police Officer Elizabeth Geheb 108 Precinct
Police Officer Lawrence Gomez 44 Precinct
Police Officer Anielo Mazzella 52 Precinct
Police Officer Doreen Nicotra 102 Precinct
Police Officer Charity Oberdier 34 Precinct
Police Officer Sally Osborn 9 Precinct
Police Officer Jennifer Walsh 101 Precinct