Boulder DA assembles "dream team" to take on domestic violence

A small “dream team” from the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office is taking a new approach to investigating incidents of domestic violence, prompted by the pressures being put on victims during the age of COVID-19.

“With COVID we had a perfect storm of factors that can lead to domestic violence,” said Senior Deputy District Attorney Anne Kelly. “There is victim isolation already brought on by the pandemic … there is financial insecurity and financial stress and worries about employment all playing a factor.”

The influences of COVID-19 are also long-lasting, which makes the work of the District Attorney’s newly formed Domestic Violence Acute Response Team even more important, Kelly said.

“When you experience hurricanes or other natural disasters the anxiety eventually ends,” she said. “But with the pandemic, you have less of an idea of when it will end.”

Seeing a rise in domestic violence numbers county-wide over the summer, District Attorney Michael Dougherty and Kelly began a conversation about responding, investigating and prosecuting the cases differently.

Rather than taking weeks to talk to alleged victims of domestic assault during a police investigation, the response team reaches out to them as soon as possible to begin to piece together a pattern of behavior prior to an attack, Dougherty said.

“Previously, after police talk to them (a domestic violence victim) we usually enter the case, maybe three weeks later,” Dougherty said. “Now we are connecting with them in two days. We are going to their house or jumping on Zoom and having long conversations with them. We are trying to develop a sense of trust with them and getting an idea of how long this violence has been going on?”

The team tries to unearth information about unreported violence, threats, access to firearms and other coercive/controlling behavior exerted on alleged victims, Kelly said.

“This early collection of more comprehensive information strengthens criminal cases…(and) increasing the likelihood of appropriate offender accountability, ,” according to a news release from Dougherty’s office.

Using funds from a grant, Dougherty hired a new deputy district attorney, Alison Band, a seasoned domestic violence prosecutor from San Francisco to work with Kelly. The team also brought on Sandra Campanella, a 10-year-old investigator from the Longmont Police Department who specialized in domestic violence cases.

“This really is a dream team we put together to take this new approach to domestic violence response,” Dougherty said.

Since its inception in November, the response team has “implemented its acute response strategy on 263 misdemeanor and 125 domestic violence cases,” according to the news release.

The response team also works closely with local law enforcement and community-based resource providers, including Longmont Ending Domestic Violence Initiative or LEVI, Kelly said.

LEVI was formed in 1998 after a series of particularly violent domestic assaults occurred in Longmont, according to the organization’s website. The impact the assaults left on the community led to a focus being put on responding to domestic violence. LEVI came from that focus and is now made up of over 30 agencies who “provide resources to combat domestic violence,” the website states. 

LEVI project coordinator Kim Heard, and Longmont Police, are instrumental in developing databases on demographics and risk factors related to domestic violence, Kelly said.

“They are outstanding partners,” Kelly said. “We are so impressed with the system in Longmont and the work they are doing.”

Heard told the Leader in November that reports of domestic violence hit their zenith in July 2020, when 102 reports were recorded, the most ever for a single month in Longmont. Heard said the spike in cases was likely due to the unique pressures exerted by COVID-19, including forced isolation.

The total number of domestic violence cases investigated by the Boulder Police Department increased 31 percent from mid-March 2020 through July 15, compared to the same time period in 2019, Kelly said.

“The dangers brought on by the pandemic are real,” Doughtery said. “The best thing we can do with this program is to quickly connect with victims, and build more trust and stronger cases. That’s how we can make a big difference.”