A Times Editorial

Special unit's end isn't end of police efforts

The anticipated demise of a specialized domestic violence unit at the Pasco Sheriff's Office comes as no real surprise. Sheriff Bob White sidestepped questions about the group's future in a recent interview, and his office has moved away from single-issue outfits in favor of better training for all deputies.

The unit, called Secondary Victims Unit, is a state-funded experiment advocated by White's predecessor, Lee Cannon. The six-person force -- four detectives, a sergeant and a clerk -- is aimed at children, the secondary victims of domestic violence, and provides them counseling.

White finally signaled his intention to kill the unit Friday in asking for county money to pay the salaries of two grant-funded detectives. Other positions can be absorbed through attrition, according to the sheriff's budget proposal. Though money for the continued effort is included in the recently adopted state budget, the sheriff expects Gov. Jeb Bush to veto the appropriation.

While the idea behind the specialized unit was noble, execution was problematic. Unlike a judge, police officers lack the authority to mandate counseling. That means targeted children still fell by the wayside if families were uncooperative.

Also, counseling services for children in the central portion of the county is largely unavailable, noted Penny Morrill of Sunrise of Pasco, which means a key population is underserved. Participation by children is limited to one year, and the Sheriff's Office acknowledged that it had no way to measure the program's success.

In essence, the four detectives assumed the roles of mentors for the identified children, visiting them at schools, checking on their academic progress and trying to ensure needed services were available. It is well-intentioned, but a job better suited for trained social workers, not law officers.

"You can provide those services a lot more cost effectively than we're doing it," sheriff's Capt. Alan Weinstein offered in a frank assessment.

The department also found the service duplicating the work of school resource officers, deputies assigned to schools on a full-time basis.

White's reluctance to embrace the program is understandable. He inherited it after his election victory in 2000 at the same time he disbanded another domestic violence force in order to increase the number of road patrol deputies.

To replace that specialized detective unit, White mandated 24 hours of domestic violence training for each of his patrol officers. Even former skeptics acknowledge the additional training is a boon to handling domestic violence situations.

With that philosophy, it is contradictory to keep officers assigned specifically to secondary victims while road deputies handle the primary victims.

Most imperatively, the Sheriff's Office doesn't intend to abandon children. It plans a similar merging of its secondary victims unit, potentially partnering with an outside agency or the school district to ensure services are available to children who've witnessed domestic violence in their homes.

That is essential. Keeping today's children from becoming tomorrow's abusers should remain a vital community effort.

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