Domestic violence in Innisfail reared its ugly head in a disturbing way during the last week of July with RCMP laying criminal charges in each of seven cases reported to Mounties.
Innisfail RCMP Cpl. Jeff Hildebrandt said five of the cases were in Innisfail or in the immediate outlying area while the other two came from Penhold.
Hildebrandt said the detachment normally responds to about two or three domestic assaults a month in Innisfail and the surrounding area.
“It's been a very high week of incidents for domestic assaults. It is unusual for us to have that high of a frequency in one week,” said Hildebrandt. “There has been commentary in the office about ‘another one', that it has just been a very busy week for domestics.”
Hildrebrant said his detachment completed seven separate investigations last week from complaints received by RCMP. “All of those have been completed to charge, charges are pending,” said Hildebrandt, adding it's standard policy in Alberta that RCMP pursue all domestic violence cases as a high priority, “and that usually results in there being charges pursued almost universally.
“But our goal is to identify the primary aggressor in each case. In many of these cases alcohol is involved and the behaviour of adults under the influence of alcohol can obviously be a concern any time,” said Hildebrandt, adding alcohol was a factor in most of the seven cases reported to his detachment last week. “When you add that into the domestic situation the risk is obviously great for the impact on children and typically we have a female victim.”
Hildrebrandt said many of the seven cases reported last week involved injuries to the victims. He added that while no medical treatment was sought there were soft tissue injuries to the victims.
He added children were present in most of the seven cases reported last week to RCMP.
“At least four involved child welfare referrals, and that is a universal indication that children were present, if not observing,” said Hildebrandt. “You add in the spectre of alcohol involvement with the children, we automatically make a referral to child welfare for their own safety.”
Hildrebrandt said he could not point to any specific reason why there was such a high “spike” in the number of reported domestic assaults in the Innisfail area.
“It is the summer season, which always results in a generally higher frequency of calls for us at this detachment. That frequency is relative to everything we touch but even with that relative increase over the entire summer this is a spike in domestic assaults,” he said.
Hildebrandt said investigations in each serious domestic violence case are intensive and time consuming for police, and take a heavy toll on the legal and court systems.
“They automatically go to charge whenever we have the smallest amount of physical evidence. Family members have to go to court and testify against each other. Crowns and lawyers are involved and judges make decisions about personal relationships. There is the impact on the children,” said Hildebrandt. “These type of situations are never straightforward. You are talking about people who have emotional connections with each other, sometimes spanning years if not decades.
“The abuse tends to be a cycle, and it is very, very difficult to point your finger to one cause, one way of dealing with it,” he added. “It's just a universally bad thing, and that is why there is such serious investigations for us.”
