New Domestic Violence Unit Aims To Improve Prosecution In Monmouth Co.

FREEHOLD, NJ — The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office has launched a specialized Domestic Violence Unit, Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced on Thursday.

The goal of the unit is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the prosecution of domestic violence cases, thousands of which are reported each year.

For Santiago, launching this new unit has been personal.

“The development of this new unit has been a top priority of mine from the day I took office nearly two years ago, and the motivation has been both personal and professional,” Santiago said. “I myself experienced the damaging effects that domestic violence can have on a family as a child growing up, and throughout two decades of private law practice, I served innumerable clients who had endured those same effects themselves.”

According to NJ State Police, approximately 60,000 domestic violence offenses are reported by local police in an average year.

In New Jersey, 164 offenses are reported daily — one every 8.5 minutes.

“It is our firm expectation that this new unit will thoroughly reinvent how such cases are handled in Monmouth County," Santiago said, "making all such prosecutions far more efficient and effective.”

Located at the prosecutor's office headquarters in Freehold Township, the new unit will be separate from the Family & Juvenile Unit and focus on investigations and prosecutions of “incidents of intimate partner violence."

According to prosecutors, intimate partner violence refers to abuse or aggression that happens during or after a romantic relationship and involves current or former spouses/dating partners.

Led by Assistant Prosecutor Stephanie Dugan, the new unit will have six staff members, including two detectives and support staff. Dugan will also supervise a second assistant prosecutor.

The unit’s work will intersect with partner agencies such as the Monmouth County Abuse Intervention Program, 180 Turning Lives Around, the Community Affairs and Resource Center (CARC) and the Mercy Center.

“Incidents of domestic violence represent by far the most common type of the several thousand indictable crimes our office prosecutes every year," Santiago said. "And each and every case features a wide range of unique challenges facing the dedicated men and women who strive to bring these perpetrators to justice.”

According to prosecutors, the new unit will operate similarly to the prosecutor's office's existing investigative units and will provide logistical and on-the-ground support for local agencies in matters such as taking victim statements and interviewing witnesses on their cases.

The unit’s ultimate aim is to “help victims stuck in the cycle of domestic violence free themselves.”

In some cases, prosecutors said the ideal outcome would be achieving prosecution without direct trial testimony, allowing victims to avoid the trauma of reliving crimes committed against them while in the same room as those who committed them.

“Domestic violence leaves many scars that don’t heal quite right, and many others that never heal at all,” Santiago said. “I want to create greater opportunities to break the cycle of domestic violence and its impact on families."

For more information, you can visit the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office website.