Rockdale is once again leading the fight against family violence with a pilot federal grant to address the most violent batterers — those who try to kill their victims — and find better ways of preventing domestic violence deaths. 

The federal Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women recently awarded Rockdale County a $100,658, one-year grant as part of the Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention Demonstration to reduce homicides caused by domestic violence. Rockdale County was one of only 12 sites chosen nationwide in this new federal initiative.

The application was a joint effort of State Court Judge Nancy Bills and the Task Force Against Family Violence, grant coordinator Derek Marchman, Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Scott Freeman, Dr. Mary Finn of Georgia State University, and the Georgia Coalition on Domestic Violence.

Marchman said, “We’ve had bigger grants, but this is really the biggest bang for the buck. This grant is going to have an impact not only on current research but also in future endeavors.”

With funding from the grant, Finn and the team will research community data — the area where domestic violence research is lacking — from the ground up, and look into indicators of batterers and situations more likely to turn lethal.

“We have crime analysis, but that’s not all what it’s about,” said Marchman. “It’s not just a law enforcement problem. It’s a community problem. We don’t have to wait until people dial 911.

“We’ve got to keep searching alternative things. Will we stop locking him up? No. But you still got to look. Is there a better way to do it?”

But, he added, “When a victim is identified, I want to make sure we’re able to offer [her] the highest level of service. Sometimes they don’t know what they need… She can’t see the forest for the trees. She’s looking at – if they lock him up, I’m going to lose my economic base. She’s so caught up in the necessary items of life, she can’t see, she’s going to die in this house one day.”

From 2003 to 2012, Rockdale reported 10 domestic violence homicides. There were no domestic violence deaths last year in Rockdale, according to the Georgia Coalition on Domestic Violence.

However, in some cases, victims survive the brutal attacks, such as the 2011 shooting of a C.J. Hicks Elementary School teacher and her daughter, a Lorraine Elementary student, by her estranged husband.

In 2011, Conyers police responded to 614 domestic violence incidents and the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office responded to 1,196.

In 2010, the GBI reported that law enforcement responded to 785 domestic violence incidents in Rockdale.

Neighboring Newton County reported 13 domestic violence deaths over the nine year period 2003 to 2012. 

Three of those occurred last year, including the December 2012 murder of a third grade teacher from Live Oak Elementary and the suicide of her husband, a former Edwards Middle School physical education teacher. 

Judge Bills said the aim of this grant is to assess how our community monitors high-risk offenders and to identify victims who may be in a potentially fatal, abusive relationship, no matter if they’ve already had a run-in with the law or not.

However, she said the initiative is not solely focused on law enforcement, but also on prosecution, courts, health care providers, family violence programs, and other providers who may interact with a victim.

Rockdale was likely chosen partly because of its existing framework and working relationships among all these groups through the Task Force Against Family Violence, said Bills. 

“This grant is evidence of the forward thinking, collaboration and hard work the Task Force has been providing citizens for the last five years,” Bills said.  

Marchman said, “It is an excellent example of us not being too proud to ask for help. This grant mirrors how you have to address domestic violence. People have to do their job, but you have to be willing to receive help from others and give help to others.”

The grant coordinators will travel to Washington D.C. in May for an intensive workshop to set up the grant projects. This initiative, which totals $2.3 million, will partner with the National Institute of Justice to vigorously evaluate the implementation and outcomes of the effort.

If, after the first year, the project produces effective strategies and models, Rockdale County will become eligible for additional funding for an implementation phase. The end goal is to create a model for addressing lethal domestic violence that can perhaps be replicated in other similar communities, said Marchman.

U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder announced the 12 sites at a recent press conference: Contra Costa County, Calif.; Miami-Dade County, Fla.; Palm Beach County, Fla.; Rockdale County, Ga.; Winnebago County, Ill.; Boston; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Westchester County, N.Y.; Pitt County, N.C.; Cuyahoga County, Ohio; North Charleston, S.C.; and Rutland, Vt.

More information about the Rockdale Task Force Against Family Violence, as well as general information about family violence, can be found at rockdaleaware.com.