Protection Orders Studied Official Polls Police, Counselors, Victims On How To Improve The The Process

Domestic violence protection orders are meant to protect victims of abuse.

But police and victims say the orders often do more to frustrate than to protect.

The Kootenai County court services director hopes to help change that. Diana Meyer is studying all domestic violence cases that involved protection orders in 1994. She is sending out hundreds of surveys asking how to improve the process.

“The domestic violence protection process is very important but it didn’t seem like anyone was happy with the system,” Meyer said.

Protection orders prohibit a batterer from hurting or coming near their victims. They also can prohibit batterers from calling, writing or contacting their victims through a third person.

Idaho began using the documents in mid-1988. Since then the number of people applying for the orders in Kootenai County has increased by more than 200 percent. In 1994, about 700 victims filed for protection orders, up from the 217 who filed in 1989, Meyer said.

Meyer, a member of the Kootenai County Domestic Violence Task Force, has sent more than 500 surveys to people who deal with the protection orders - from police to counselors to the victims themselves.

The survey asks questions like: Do the police act in the best interest of the victim? Does the prosecutor aggressively prosecute domestic violence cases? And does the community have adequate resources to handle these cases?

Protection orders often are too vague, making it difficult for police officers to know just how far away an accused batterer must stay from his victim, said Kootenai County sheriff’s Lt. Ben Wolfinger.

“We’ve gotten some that said the batterer can’t be within two miles of his victim,” Wolfinger said. “But two miles is a long way. There were some that in all practicality were unenforceable.”

Holladay Sanderson, acting director of the Coeur d’Alene Women’s Center, said the orders often allow batterers to call their victims about child visitation. But many batterers make harassing phone calls instead, she said.

Meyer plans to complete her project by May.

The Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence also wants changes in the process.

The organization has proposed a piece of legislation to make the second violation of a protection order a felony, instead of a misdemeanor.

Meyer said anyone with suggestions should write to her at P.O. Box 9000, Coeur d’Alene, 83816-9000.