 |
When Cherokee County sheriff’s Detective Roger Williams, a nearly 40-year veteran of law enforcement, receives a 10-36 Code, he knows to prepare for a potentially serious incident.
A 10-36 Code signifies a domestic violence call, and Williams says this code can range from a weaponized attack inside a home to neighbors arguing over a barking dog. The Cherokee County Sherriff’s Office in Murphy receives 10-36 Codes multiple times a week.
“I wouldn’t say every hour, but certainly several in a week,” Williams added.
A quick glance at their statistical breakdown of types of crimes – for example, elder abuse, stalking or assault – shows domestic violence frequency is so high in Cherokee County that it takes up two-thirds of the entire crime incident pie. And that giant piece of pie doesn’t even include crimes like child and adult sexual assault, making it larger than elder abuse, suicide events and fatalities combined.
Because the volume of calls is so high and the affected victim pool so large, the sheriff’s office created the Cherokee County Victim Assistance Program. This program is funded from a National Sheriff’s Association and Justice Solutions grant. Cherokee County earns this yearly grant by spending the award money effectively. Their work has been stellar enough to win the Outstanding Law Enforcement Professional Award both statewide and regionally.
So if domestic abuse and sexual assault continue to rank high on the yearly crimes report, what happens to all those victims afterward? Like all areas across the United States, Cherokee County is working to overcome plenty of challenges.
For example, the number of rape kits held in evidence rooms across the nation waiting their turn to be
processed is more than 100,000. It’s such an alarming statistic that angry citizens created a national initiative called End the Backlog to bring citizen attention and advocacy to fight this stalled justice.
In contrast, the number of untested kits collecting dust in Cherokee County evidence rooms is zero. Williams is proud of that number. He said Attorney General Josh Stein is to thank for this national anomaly.
“Stein focused on testing these kits,” Williams said, but Cherokee may be one of few counties in the state that transformed words into action. North Carolina logs over 16,000 untested rape kits, so this exemplary number of 100 percent testing is not due to a lower number of sex crimes.
According to the Incident Crime Summary, last year, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office responded to nearly 50 crimes that involved a sexual component.
“Every domestic violence call involves multiple victims,” Williams said, adding that children are the “silent victim” in the house, often hiding under a table or bed as a domestic assault plays out.
Many of these types of crimes never make it through the justice system because the assault victim won’t press charges. Williams said one of the hardest issues to handle is when an injured assault victim will not allow responding officers to arrest the attacker.
“These cases are complicated because they deal with families,” he added.
Sexual assault and domestic violence still plague Cherokee County, and this increase in incidents occurs despite the educational and advocacy programs available through the sheriff’s office. However, all of the victims, including the silent ones, will find a strong voice speaking for them.
Williams, offers his job title as more than “detective;” he calls himself a shepherd. Abused and sexually assaulted citizens of Murphy will find safety and understanding among those called to shepherd them on their long road to healing and justice.
Abigail Hickman is a special correspondent for the Cherokee Scout. Email her at savvygirlsavvygirl@gmail.com or leave a message in the office at 837-5122.