The meeting was attended by employees of the Municipal Social Welfare Centre, the Interdisciplinary Team, the Commission for the Prevention and Resolution of Alcohol-Related Problems, the headteacher, a teacher and third-year students in the police and emergency medical services programmes from the Complex of Secondary and Technical Schools in Piechowice, a judge of the District Court in Jelenia Góra, a prosecutor from the District Prosecutor’s Office in Jelenia Góra, neighbourhood officers, police officers from the Prevention Department of the Municipal Police Headquarters in Jelenia Góra, and representatives of the municipal office. The debate was also attended by the deputy municipal police commander in Jelenia Góra, junior inspector Piotr Wałczyk, and the mayor of Piechowice, Witold Rudolf.
The debate began with a presentation of a short street survey conducted among Piechowice residents on domestic violence. The speakers then presented short papers on preventing this phenomenon:
- The phenomenon of domestic violence and Measures targeting perpetrators of violence – Police Inspector Małgorzata Gorzelak
- The Blue Card procedure and the police’s tasks in preventing domestic violence – Staff Sergeant Danuta Razmysłowicz
- Criminal liability of perpetrators – prosecutor from the District Prosecutor’s Office in Jelenia Góra, Tomasz Czułowski
- Alcohol and violence – Krystyna Chmura
- Activities of the Interdisciplinary Team in Piechowice – ZI representative Jolanta Gmyrek.
The debate concluded with a discussion. Participants raised the issues related to domestic violence that concerned them most. It should be noted that domestic violence is very often concealed. Therefore, accurately assessing the scale of domestic violence is quite difficult. In most cases, a police officer is the first person from outside the family to receive a signal that domestic violence is occurring and should gather precise information about the incident as quickly as possible. After every intervention during which violence was identified or suspected, the family must be contacted again in order to assess the situation.
In cases of domestic violence, cooperation between institutions and social services required to provide support and assistance to victims of violence is extremely important. Very often, a neighbourhood officer becomes the link between those affected and a social worker, who can provide assistance beyond the police’s remit. It may also happen that a victim of violence does not want further assistance from the police but is willing to accept it from representatives of other institutions.
The aim of the debate was to improve cooperation mechanisms between institutions required to support and assist victims of violence, as well as to draw attention to legal gaps in the process of providing them with help.
The organisers of the meeting were the Jelenia Góra police, the Social Welfare Centre in Piechowice, the Interdisciplinary Team, the Commission for the Prevention and Resolution of Alcohol-Related Problems, and representatives of the Municipal Office. Nearly 50 people took part in the debate.
KMP Jelenia Góra/ii