Advocates Stress Outreach At F. Hills Forum
Stopping domestic violence was a hot topic at the 112th Precinct Community Council meeting last Wednesday, Mar. 20, at the Forest Hills stationhouse, as the group hosted a forum featuring a panel of experts who spoke about aiding and counseling victims.
Leading the panel discussion were Renee Lobo of the community council, Assistant District Attorney Keshia Espinal of the Queens District Attorney’s Domestic Violence Bureau and Dr. Beth Silverman of Columbia University.
“The statistics, whether it’s in the U.S. or around the world, show that one in four women in their lifetime- cutting across race, class and gender orientation-is likely to experience one of the forms of psychological, sexual, physical or financial abuse,” said Silverman.
Lobo expounded on the types of abuse inflicted upon victims, including forced marriage, sex trafficking, discrimination and child abductions.
On average, according to Lobo, it takes seven “cycles of abuse” before a victim of physical or sexual domestic violence calls 911. Many times, she said, the victim refuses to report the incidents after being threatened by their abuser or out of fear that it would impact their chil- dren.
Lobo said that the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which was recently renewed by Congress and the president, has helped bring about “a positive change in the lives of many women.”
“It’s a very difficult issue to combat and address, but VAWA is doing it,” she added, pointing to a national decrease in rape cases in recent years as evidence.
Another complication in combating domestic violence has been cultural boundaries resulting from “age-old traditions, societal norms” and firmly entrenched customs, Lobo stated.
“There is discrimination, sometimes subtle, sometimes a part of culture, especially if you are coming from a different society,” she added. “They think it’s okay for a man to control them, then they come here and understand their rights.”
Domestic violence, Silverman noted, is not limited to purely relationships between spouses or mates; the category also includes the abuse of the elderly by caretakers. Teenagers also become victims of domestic violence through cyberbullying.
Regarding elder abuse, Silverman noted that in many instances, the caregivers verbally damage the victim’s self esteem, defining them in “negative terms” while claiming to be the only person they can depend upon for help.
Silverman stressed the importance of reporting any type of abuse to authorities, adding that victims should also seek out a host of programs available to help them recover from their ordeal.
“There was an enormous amount of stigma against domestic violence for years,” she said. “Nobody deserves to be abused. I think by brining this out into the light, this is not about imperialist America telling the world how to conduct relationships. There are human rights. …Nobody should be able to rob that from you, regardless of culture.”
Vallone talks crime
City Council Member Peter Vallone Jr.-chair of the Council’s Public Safety Committee and a candidate for Queens borough president- spoke about a number of issues regarding crime in the city.
Vallone noted that crime is beginning to “creep back up” after years of decline. He blamed a combination of the elimination of the Rockefeller drug laws-which punished individuals for possessing small amounts of certain narcotics-and a reduced NYPD force with contributing to the upturn.
“We’ve got more criminals on the streets because of the Rockefeller drug laws. Our district attorney’s offices are also underfunded” and overwhelmed by the caseload, the lawmaker said. “It’s starting to take a toll.”
“We’ve really got to pay attention to increasing our police force,” Vallone added.
The Astoria-based legislator also noted his push to have the MTA install a “wall of shame” in all subway stations posting the images of individuals convicted of molesting women in the subway system. He also touted his support of the NYPD’s “stop-and-frisk” policy, which he noted helps take hundreds of illegal guns of the streets every year.
“It’s a policy that works,” Vallone said, dismissing public criticism that the policy discriminates against minorities. “The law is the law. You can’t detain [individuals] unless you have reasonable suspicion, and you can’t arrest them unless you have probable cause.”
The legislator stated that the program, however, should be reformed in order to ensure that the policy is used more effectively and appropriately.
Cops of the Month
Police Officers Andrea Gerard and Vivian Alberty were honored as Cops of the Month for their arrest of a man suspected of breaking into vehicles parked on a block within the 112th Precinct’s confines earlier this month.
According to Capt. Thomas Conforti, the 112th Precinct commander, the officers were on routine patrol at around 4 a.m. on Mar. 6 when they spotted a vehicle which had its interior light on. Conforti noted that the officers had been advised to look for such activity in combating a rash of vehicle break-ins that struck the command earlier this year.
Reportedly, the officers stopped and approached the vehicle, finding a man inside. Though he initially claimed to be moving the car for a relative, Conforti noted, the officers learned that the man had no connection to the vehicle’s rightful owner.
Items stolen from a parked vehicle down the block were also found in the man’s possession, the captain noted. Gerard and Alberty took the suspect into custody, and following arraignment, he was released on bail.
Three days later, according to the captain, the same suspect was arrested again by other 112th Precinct officers for allegedly committing additional vehicle break-ins. Since his re-arrest, Conforti stated, the suspect was ordered held on high bail.
The commander credited the arrest made by Gerard, Alberty and other officers to reducing the number of vehicle break-ins for the year. In January, he noted, the command averaged between 15 and 20 such incidents in a given week, but there were a combined total of five break-ins over the last two weeks.
For their efforts, Gerard and Alberty were presented with plaques by Conforti and 112th Precinct Council President Heidi Harrison Chain.
Other news
Chain announced that the precinct council’s April meeting will focus on identity theft, while the May session will feature a presentation by Claudia Filomena of the Mayor’s office. She added that the community council is planning to hold graffiti cleanups around the area in the weeks ahead.
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The 112th Precinct Community Council will hold a special meeting this Tuesday night, Apr. 2, at 7:30 p.m. at Our Lady of Mercy School, located at 70-01 Kessel St. in Forest Hills, regarding an active burglary pattern. See Page 3 for details.
The next regularly scheduled 112th Precinct Community Council meeting will take place on Wednesday night, Apr. 17, at 7:30 p.m. at the stationhouse located at the corner of Austin Street and Yellowstone Boulevard in Forest Hills. For more information, call the 112th Precinct Community Affairs Unit at 1-718- 520-9321.
