Here's how city of Topeka is putting prosecution of domestic violence at the forefront

Domestic violence survivors have become increasingly engaged with Topeka's criminal justice system since the city attorney's office last January started a new program focusing on domestic violence, says a professional who works in that field.

Those survivors have become more active at court proceedings for their alleged batterers, including testifying at trial and appearing at arraignments where pleas are made, said Becca Spielman, program director for the YWCA Center for Safety and Empowerment.

Brigid Markey, an associate attorney with the office of Topeka city attorney Amanda Stanley, has prosecuted those cases for the city since the program rolled out Jan. 16.

Domestic violence is an unpleasant topic that a lot of people don't want to talk about, Markey told The Capital-Journal.

But she said she gladly took her assignment.

The job is important because domestic violence — either directly or indirectly — touches the lives of most people, Markey said.

"I'm in a position where we could institute real change if we work together as a community, which I think is what we're doing," she said.

Markey's 'entire world' wrapped around domestic violence prosecution

Kelly Trussell, chief prosecutor for the city attorney's office, said the program implements a more specialized and personalized approach to handling cases of misdemeanor domestic battery.

The program's presence reflects that Topeka's city government is "absolutely invested" in giving whatever help it can to alleged victims of that crime and their families, she said.

The arrangement in place calls for Markey to handle all misdemeanor domestic battery cases, and no other cases.

"Her entire world is wrapped around just domestic violence prosecution," Trussell said.

She said enabling Markey to focus just on domestic violence "has given her the opportunity to reach out immediately to victims and community partners to get any help we need, and also to the Topeka Police Department."

Shawnee County District attorney Mike Kagay's office prosecutes any felony cases involving domestic violence within Topeka city limits.

Of the 294 misdemeanor domestic battery cases Markey has handled between Jan. 16 and Aug. 11, 15 have been dismissed and referred to be prosecuted by Kagay's office "because we believe them to be felonies," Trussell said.

At least 19 other cases among the 294 have already resulted in convictions, "which is a pretty quick turnaround" for such a short period of time, she said.

Program works to keep alleged victims feeling safe and supported

Trussell said she's proud of the new program and thinks it is "very unique."

The program focuses on helping the alleged victims to feel safe and supported, Trussell said.

Even when alleged victims aren't willing to prosecute their alleged abusers out of fear for their own safety, she said, Markey lets them know where they can get help, including Topeka's Family Peace Initiative and the YWCA Center for Safety and Empowerment.

"Sometimes it's not about whether we prosecute this case," Trussell said. "It's about how can we help with the situation. And that may be as simple as — if the victim doesn't want to cooperate with the prosecution but wants help — we get them to the right community partners in order to facilitate that for them."

Here are two places for domestic battery victims to get help in Topeka

Mackey said she thinks there's a "lack of knowledge in this community" about the resources available to alleged domestic battery victims.

The Family Peace Initiative offers various services, including a battering intervention program, a youth initiative and resources for victims and survivors.

The Center for Safety and Empowerment was formed in 1977 as the Battered Women's Task Force. It maintains two shelters that serve victims and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and human trafficking in Shawnee, Jackson, Wabaunsee and Brown counties.

The center also maintains a domestic violence hotline staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The phone number is 1-888-822-2983.

Topeka's goal in domestic violence prosecution is to prevent homicides

The new program's goals include preventing homicides by identifying situations in which violence is escalating and putting someone at increased risk of dying, Trussell said.

Four of Topeka's 22 homicides so far this year have been domestic violence-related, said Rosie Nichols, public safety communications specialist for Topeka's city government.

Of the 468 aggravated assaults and aggravated batteries reported so far this year to Topeka police, 218 — or 46.6% — have been domestic-related, she added.

Aggravated assaults and aggravated batteries involve the use of weapons or deadly force.

The Topeka police criminal investigations bureau recently created a domestic violence unit to focus specifically on such cases, Nichols said.

The new program at the city attorney's office has achieved "successful results" in terms of making alleged victims safer in several domestic situations, Trussell said.

She voiced pride about how the city attorney's office this year noticed that one situation was quickly getting increasingly lethal and successfully asked the district attorney to pursue felony charges.

The alleged victim in that case is now safer than that person used to be, Trussell said.

Without the city attorney's office's intervention, the district attorney's office wouldn't have known about the increased threat, she said.

'Intervening at the right time, and early on'

"Hopefully, we're intervening at the right time, and early on," Markey said. "I am trying to have as much contact with alleged victims as possible. I try to speak with them and find out what's going on from their side of things."

Markey said she works to build trust with the victims while asking them questions to gather information about such things as how severe the situation might be, whether substance abuse or mental illness might be involved and if the alleged batterer has ever used a weapon against their domestic partner or threatened to kill that person.

Sometimes alleged victims don't want to talk about those things, Markey said.

"But when I am able to get that information, I have a very good idea how severe the situation is moving forward," she said.

Contact Tim Hrenchir at [email protected] or 785-213-5934.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: New Topeka program seeks real change in addressing domestic violence