Lake Co. Partnership Takes Aim at Domestic Violence

LAKE COUNTY, IL —The Lake County Sheriff’s Office and A Safe Place–Lake County have partnered up in effort to reduce domestic violence occurrences. Starting last month, a crisis responder from A Safe Place has been spending one day a week working with Sheriff’s Office staff and following-up with victims of domestic violence stemming from incidents that Lake County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to, according to a news release from the sheriff's office.

The purpose of this program is to provide victims of domestic violence with additional resources on the order of protection process, providing victim advocacy, safety planning, information on victims’ rights under the Illinois Domestic Violence Act, and provide options for other resources, authorities said.

Additionally, the crisis responder will provide resource options for families dealing with domestic-related issues, even when no criminal act occurred, according to the press release.

“A Safe Place is very grateful to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office for this collaboration in our fight against domestic violence and human trafficking. Domestic violence is an epidemic in our county as 1 in 3 women and 1 in 7 men are impacted throughout our communities. Waiting for a phone call to our crisis line may never happen or may be too late in some cases," said Pat Davenport, CEO/Executive Director of A Safe Place-Lake County. "Partnering with the Sheriff’s Office and jointly responding to domestic violence and human trafficking calls when they happen will help us get in front of the problem versus waiting for clients to come to us, and save lives.

Davenport added that Lake County has some of the highest homicide rates connected to domestic violence in the state of Illinois.

Lake County Sheriff John Idelburg said he is also very excited about the new partnership.

"It is our hope having a crisis responder from A Safe Place on-hand will support our efforts building relationships and trust with domestic violence victims," Idelburg said. "I believe this collaborative effort will help us reduce domestic violence throughout Lake County.”