Last modified: Saturday, October 4, 2008 11:21 PM PDT Payette Police Chief Mark Clark holds up one of the cell phones collected through donation that are programmed only to make 9-1-1 calls and given to victims of domestic violence to use in an emergency. Always aware By JESSICA KELLER ARGUS OBSERVER PAYETTE — October is Domestic Violence Awareness month, observed for the first time in 1987, but for Payette Police Chief Mark Clark domestic violence is something he takes very seriously on a daily basis. Clark, who has been in law enforcement for the past 20 years, said, typically, his department averages about three domestic violence arrests a week, and all calls get taken very seriously.  “These are some of the most dangerous calls because a physical relationship between a man and a woman ... there’s usually a lot more anger involved, emotions involved in these types of calls,” he said. Many of the calls lead to an arrest of the aggressor. He said, if there are signs of physical confrontation or violence, an arrest is always made, but police also make arrests if physical violence has been threatened or there are other signs of confrontation such as things thrown. “When we go there, we make sure that everybody’s safe,” he said, adding each call is treated like a regular crime scene with photographs taken and statements collected and safety of others, such as children, ensured. Clark estimates only 25 percent of the calls involve both parties fighting. “Most of the time we’ll find a male aggressor primarily, and there’ll be usually batter on a female,” he said. Unfortunately, he said, sometimes the female victims refuse to give police any information or make a statement against the male aggressor because they fear retaliation in some way or feel they are tied through financial obligations or they just don’t want to see their partner go to jail. “So, we run into that situation sometimes,” Clark said, adding, regardless of whether the victim wants to make a statement, if officers see physical signs of abuse, an arrest will be made. “We don’t take the risk that when we leave it will continue,” he said. Clark knows, from a police officer’s standpoint, firsthand how terrible domestic violence can be. He’s been a police officer long enough he is starting to see second generation abuse, where he is arresting adults for domestic violence who were children in the houses he responded to on the same type of calls. In many situations, he said, drugs and alcohol are involved, and sometimes the violence is extreme. Clark said he can’t recall responding to any situation where a spouse had been killed by their partner, although that certainly is a danger and does occur. “But we’ve had some serious physical battery cases,” Clark said. A particularly violent case he remembers was an incident where a man bit off his wife’s lip. While police take domestic violence very seriously now, that wasn’t always the case, Clark admitted. About 20 years ago, when he first started as an officer, the police didn’t take domestic abuse calls as seriously as they should. A lot of the reason was from of ignorance about the dynamics of domestic violence, the reasons behind it and its seriousness because of lack of training and education. “A lot of officers didn’t understand why the wife just didn’t leave,” he said, adding, there are many reasons why a wife may not leave. Especially in the last 10 years, however, that has changed, and police officers do receive that training. As a result, in addition to enforcing the law, they also act as counselors and educators, making victims aware of what resources available for them and their children — such as Project Dove in Ontario or Rose Advocates in Payette — and giving them cell phones programmed only to make 9-1-1 phone calls in cases of an emergency. Clark said domestic violence is something that will never end, but constant awareness can help the problem from being worse. People also shouldn’t be afraid to report such instances of serious domestic disputes that have them alarmed, even if they aren’t sure violence is taking place. “I’d say they should call immediately,” Clark said. “Everybody argues ... but if there are signs of physical altercation or threats of altercation, they need to call immediately. And a lot of times it may be just a verbal altercation, but at least we’ve prevented anybody from getting hurt.”