With October being Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Danville Police Detectives Ryan Birge and Jon Stonewall recently joined Laura Williams on 1490 WDAN’s Community Connection program. Detective Birge stated that in any domestic situation, a major priority is always to check on the kids.
AUDIO: So it’s important for parents to teach their kids right. You know when kids see this going on all the time it normalizes it for them, and that’s what we don’t want. We want to make sure “this isn’t normal, this isn’t right.” And that’s why it might be where I’m in there trying to get things calmed down. And once we get things to a normal level, I always try to make sure I talk to the kids and say “hey, what’s going on?”
Detective Stonewall said that sometimes parties involved in a domestic disturbance do not know the police are coming; which can make the situation especially dangerous, and challenging.
AUDIO: Sometimes neighbors are calling in, and so the people that we’re going to check on don’t even know that we’re coming, and they’re surprised. And when somebody’s really angry, they’re not always making the smartest decisions.
Detective Birge also mentioned that there’s a reason that one of the first things police do is to separate the involved parties.
AUDIO: It’s hard for me to talk to someone when they can hear their spouse giving the other side of the story to the other officer “Well that’s not true,” and they start yelling back and forth. So we separate everybody; it’s not because we’re taking one side or the other. It’s because we want to get the two separated and get the two stories, and then kind of try to help.
Detectives Birge and Stonewall reminded everyone that domestic situations can happen in a variety of ways. It could be a man victimizing a woman, a woman victimizing a man, children being victimized, or a disturbance between roommates living in the same quarters.
Victims are reminded to google “domestic violence Vermilion County” for information on organizations such as Crosspoint at the Y or Domestic Violence Outreach. And remember, Crosspoint’s Domestic Violence hotline is 217-443-5568.
CLICK HERE TO HEAR LAURA WILLIAMS’ COMPLETE INTERVIEW WITH DETECTIVES BIRGE AND STONEWALL: https://vermilioncountyfirst.com/the-community-connection/
