The Lake County Sheriff’s Office and A Safe Place–Lake County are excited to announce a new partnership in an effort to reduce domestic violence.
Beginning this week a crisis responder from A Safe Place will spend one day a week working with Sheriff’s Office staff, following-up with victims of domestic violence stemming from incidents that Lake County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to.
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 options for other resources.
Additionally, the crisis responder will provide resource options for families dealing with domestic-related issues, even when no criminal act occurred.
Pat Davenport, CEO/Executive Director of A Safe Place-Lake County said, “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. 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 (Lake County has some of the highest homicide rates connected to domestic violence in the State of Illinois). We need everyone to help end this epidemic and the Sheriff’s Office is taking a stand in this work.”
Sheriff John Idleburg said, “We are very excited about this 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. I believe this collaborative effort will help us reduce domestic violence throughout Lake County.”