Morris County Prosecutor's Office Presents Clergy Community Outreach Program On Domestic Violence

Published on May 13, 2016

The Morris County Prosecutor's Office held its second quarterly Community Outreach Program of 2016 at the Morris County Public Safety Training Academy in Parsippany-Troy Hills, N.J. today. Based on popular request, the topic of discussion was Domestic Violence and how clergy can assist with early intervention. The audience was comprised of local clergy representing various religions, as well as numerous law enforcement officers from throughout Morris County.

Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp offered the opening remarks noting Not including domestic violence incidents that occurred in municipalities throughout the county, the Morris County Prosecutors Office alone handled 393 domestic violence cases in 2015, 426 in 2014 and 395 in 2013. Prosecutor Knapp also promoted the new Morris Family Justice Center located in the Administration and Records Building at 10 Court Street in Morristown. The Family Justice Center serves victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, elder abuse, child abuse and human trafficking. The center, currently only one of two located in the State of New Jersey, benefits victims in multiple ways. It offers more efficient and effective services by bringing agencies together at one location to aid a victim in crisis.

Following the Prosecutor's opening remarks Patty Sly, Executive Director of Jersey Battered Women's Services, Inc. spoke on the subject of Domestic Violence. She presented an educational power point presentation focusing on victims of domestic violence. She discussed the Power and Control Wheel of domestic violence that includes intimidation; emotional abuse; isolation; minimizing; denying and blaming; using children; economic abuse; male privilege; and coercion and threats. According to Ms. Sly, aggressors use anger and violence as tools for power and control.

The next speaker was Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Tia Manochio of the Morris County Prosecutor's Office who gave a presentation from the prosecutorial perspective. Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Manochio delivered a thorough and informative presentation about the New Jersey Domestic Violence law, one of the more effective in the nation. Ms. Manochio supervises the Domestic Violence Unit of the Prosecutor's Office and along with three Assistant Prosecutors, she is responsible for prosecuting domestic violence cases investigated by the Morris County Prosecutors Office. According to Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Manochio, approximately 90 to 95% of victims fail to cooperate with the Prosecutor's Office after the initial event, which adversely effects the prosecution of offenders.

Following these speakers, a panel of four law enforcement executives assembled for an open discussion regarding the topic of domestic violence. The panel included Chief Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Troiano and Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Tia Manochio, both from the Morris County Prosecutor's Office. Also on the panel were Chief Mark Spitzer of the Mt. Olive Township Police Department and Chief Christopher Wagner of the Denville Township Police Department who is also the current President of the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police. Several inquiries were made to the panel by the clergy in the audience. The answers were informative, based on realistic and practical applications. Prompted by a question, Chief Spitzer commented on how the domestic violence laws have improved as compared to the start of his career over thirty years ago. While both chiefs offered information from the law enforcement perspective, the prosecutors focused on the legal response to the domestic violence problem that society faces.

The program concluded with closing remarks by Prosecutor Knapp. He encouraged clergy to go back to their places of worship and educate parishioners that resources to aid victims of domestic violence do exist. He emphasized that because clergy often see their parishioners, they can be viewed as the Front Line in the battle against domestic violence.

The next quarterly Clergy Community Outreach Program is tentatively planned to cover the current Heroin/Opiate Epidemic.

Any questions regarding this Media Release should be referred to Agent Paul Merkler at pmerkler@co.morris.nj.us.