Derrick Brown walked through Shannon Wiser’s cluttered home recently, finding tiny socks, old high chairs and framed pictures of two growing boys.
He sifted through it all, locating the “sentimental things” to keep after nurses took his niece off life support Sept. 12, five days after she was brutally beaten.
Her husband, John “Budweiser” Wiser, is charged with criminal homicide in connection with her death.
Brown remembered that his niece did everything police told her to protect herself against her husband, “but it didn’t work.” He said she went to a halfway house twice on advice from law enforcement.
John Wiser is scheduled to appear in Hamilton County General Sessions Court today. (Oct. 4.) Dan Woods 10/1/10
FOR HELPIf you feel you’re in danger, call the 24-hour hotline at Partnership for Families, Children and Adults at 755-2700.PLAN AHEADIf you need to leave a threatening domestic situation, plan a safe escape route and pack a bag with important documents:* Birth certificates* Court papers* Passports* Immigration papers, if applicable* Cash* Extra car keysSource: Partnership for Families, Children and Adults
“Nothing like this should go on like what happened here,” Brown said.
According to figures from Erlanger hospital, family violence is common.
“In the last year … a little more than 200 patients presented with evidence of suspected domestic abuse at the main adult emergency [department],” said Yonna Jones, Erlanger’s administrator of emergency services.
And that trend is consistent statewide, according to a national study.
Research from the Washington, D.C.-based Violence Policy Center shows that Tennessee ranked fifth in the nation in the rate of women killed by men in 2008. Alabama ranked third and Georgia ranked 10th.
“These findings alarmingly demonstrate how domestic violence can escalate to homicide,” Violence Policy Center Legislative Director Kristen Rand said in a news release. “More resources need to be made available to protect women and prevent such tragedies.”
INTERVENTION
Documents from Erlanger show that it is required to notify “security and/or the police department” if staff suspects domestic abuse, neglect or exploitation in a patient.
The Chattanooga Police Department’s policy does not require officers to contact shelters or support services, even in obvious cases of spousal abuse.
“We do not have to notify social workers or shelters if there are a certain number of calls on a specific address or couple,” Chattanooga police spokeswoman Officer Rebecca Royval said.
According to department policy, officers must get medical treatment for domestic violence victims, take them to a shelter “[when] necessary” and provide them with a referral information packet for legal or social assistance and support.
But officers can’t force victims to accept rescue, said Sgt. Jerri Weary, another department spokeswoman.
The “buck stops with the victim, not us,” Weary said.
“If I walk into a house and I see a woman beat up and bruised and she doesn’t want to talk to me, what can I do about it?” Weary asked. “Nothing. She’s got to be willing to help herself.”
State legislators tackled domestic violence this year, but only five of 22 bills introduced in the General Assembly passed. There were no bills requiring police to notify support services. Of those that passed, one exempts victims from paying court costs for orders of protection and another law offers counseling for aggressors.
LOCAL HELP
In 2009, more than 3,000 women helped themselves by calling a domestic abuse hotline at the Partnership for Families, Children and Adults, said Regina McDevitt, director of crisis and homeless services at the Chattanooga agency.
She said about 30 women are now in the agency’s shelter.
Funded by federal grants, the shelter provides three-month stays that include counseling and safety planning. An experienced court liaison also advises women on filing documents such as orders of protection.
McDevitt said area law enforcement agencies often send incident reports of domestic abuse to shelters so experts can follow up with victims. She said that even without notification requirements, there’s often communication between law enforcement and support services.
“In a lot of ways, the police and our program are a team,” she said. “Their job is to intervene, make arrests and give you information. Our job is to advocate for you, give you safety planning, support you.”