VISIT TO THE SVU POLICE

I decided I wanted to talk to someone at the police department.  I contacted the Chief of Police and he passed me off to the Interim Captain of the Special Victims Unit.  He was very nice.  He was interested why there were no domestic violence calls to the police department from my home.  I explained to him that I was warned by some ex-police and ex-FBI that the police would not be able to do anything if I called them and that would potentially anger Tracy further.  I never called the police because I didn't want to anger Tracy any more than necessary.

I made an appointment with Capt. SVU.  When we met, he was very nice.  I told him that he could not understand what I went through unless he went through it. In fact I did not understand until I went through it.  He then explained that he went through a horrible divorce with a restraining order so he understood.  I was quite upset when he tried to equate my domestic violence situation with his bad divorce.  Now I know people have bad divorces.  Some are horrible with the parties claiming all sorts of stuff.  But no matter what he went through, it was not the same thing as the extreme psychological and emotional abuse I went through being trapped in my own home.  Not to mention, I doubt any cop feels terrified when they carry a gun.  They have the power.  They are not worried they are going to be stabbed at any time.  They are not worried that their partner is going to meet them at the door with a weapon.  Maybe they are worried that their partner is going to hurt them in their sleep but they at least have a weapon and training.  I had nothing.  If Tracy had decided to hurt me, she outweighed me and could out maneuver me.  She had the upper hand.  I was at a complete disadvantage.

After that part of the conversation, I began to tell him my concerns.  How the cops who came to my home to help me get my stuff on the day the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) was served told me I was violating the restraining order because I lived in the house after the TRO was granted but had not been served.  I told him that was ridiculous.  If I told Tracy that I had a TRO that was granted but had not been served she would have gone ballistic.  What was I supposed to do?  Move out?  I think Tracy would have noticed I was gone for three days.

Then the cops didn't check the whole house and I found out when I came back that Tracy had been in the house the whole time.  That is scary to me.  I had already told them she was aggressive to the process server.  Knowing this didn't make me feel safe.  What if she had come upstairs while I was in the house?

The cops who came to remove Tracy from the home never gave me a list of services.  So when my Plan A fell through I had no Plan B.  Where was I going to go?  What was I going to do?  I was in my car with two dogs crying.  If I had a list of services I could have called someone to help me.

The cops told me to go to three different locations to get a police report that took days and I almost didn't get my police report on time for court.

I also had good experiences.  The two cops that removed Tracy were fantastic.  They must have had special training.  They were so patient.

The deputy in the court house escorted my attorney and I out of the court house so Tracy could calm down while we left.  That was a good call.

Capt. SVU took notes but my feeling was that he was not interested in doing anything about it.  I told him that I was interested in helping the police department in making it a better system.  What can I do?  He gave me some useless information and sent me on my way.  

I am going to find another way.  He didn't get it.  How could be in charge of SVU?

more to come...