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DV task force continues effort on local database The Washington County Domestic Violence Task Force is continuing its efforts to broaden a reference database for use in reducing the number of domestic violence incidents in the county by studying the patterns. The volunteer organization met Thursday, Jan. 17 at Deerfield Golf Club and discussed obtaining data from local municipal courts. According to Martha Salter, director of Penelope House in Mobile, plans are to hire a new employee whose job will include collecting the data and entering it into the system. Currently data from Washington County is entered into the Mobile County database. "At present there are more than 5,000 abusers in the database and it is growing," said Salter. She went on to say that there is a need for training within the Chatom and McIntosh police departments. "Getting officers trained on using the system will enhance our efforts," she added. Task force chairman, Judge Jerry Turner, said he hoped that establishing a presence in the local municipal courts would help curtail incidents of domestic violence in the county. "We should use that presence to hopefully send domestic violence aggressors to domestic violence classes." Turner explained that the certified domestic violence class program was discontinued because the requirement of at least 25 participants was not being met. "With our involvement in the municipal courts we hope to sustain the 25 participants required to participate in the certified program and get it started back in Washington County," he said. Salter agreed. "We have to hold the abuser accountable," she said. "Requiring abusers to attend these classes will do that." Other business *The task force discussed conducting another seminar, which will include breakout training sessions for ministers, police officers, school personnel and child care providers. It will be paid for using grant monies received by the Washington County Health Council. *Reactivation of the task force's fatality review committee was discussed. Turner pointed out that there had been several domestic violence cases in the county during 2007 which resulted in deaths.
*The next meeting date was tentatively set for March 13.
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