LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) -- The recent officer-involved shooting that led up to a police chase and multiple people sent to the hospital, just so happened to be one of over one thousand domestic violence calls the Lafayette Police Department handled year to date in 2024.

Kayla Moton, who works with Faith House as a crisis intervention advocate, said every 1 in 4 women could possibly become a victim of domestic violence, while 1 in 7 men could become a victim of domestic violence. In addition, every four to six children in each classroom have either witnessed domestic violence or know someone who is going through domestic violence.

“That means if you count yourself, four neighbors down, one of your nearest friends or neighbors could become a victim of domestic violence. Educating yourself is not only to protect them, but it's also to protect yourself,” said Moton.

Some red flags to look out for are controlling behaviors from a partner. Isolating you from family and friends, and trying to control you which means what you can do, where you can go, and who you can hang out with. Moton said they can even stop you from going to church or going to school if that's particularly your thing.

“Domestic violence is not just about physical violence. You could be emotionally abused, verbally abused, religiously, legally. There are a lot of different things that make you a victim of domestic violence and oftentimes victims do not reach out for assistance because they feel like they were not abused,” Moton explained. “Oftentimes, we'll tell survivors that the scars that last the longest are the ones that are unseen. Those verbal assaults, those attacks on your mental health, those are the things that last longevity. Whereas bruises do heal, not to take away from those who are experiencing physical violence, but it's all-encompassing. We have everyone.”

Moton said there’s been an increase in people reaching out for help.

“On average, we can receive anywhere from 30 to 50 calls within an eight hour time span. It just kind of depends on what's going on that day,” Moton said. “Usually times after holidays we'll see an increase or especially with COVID we saw a heavy increase after that. So a lot of the time it just kind of depends on what's going on in society that causes the increase but it's going to be a problem every single day. Every 9 seconds, someone becomes a victim of domestic violence. In situations where law enforcement is involved, the danger increases phenomenally because there's an outside force interacting. So even though you as a community member might want to assist, it might be better to then do safety planning with that person, provide a safe place for them to go to in the event that they do flee, or to be able to contact law enforcement to come up with plans to protect yourself and that victim.”

Furthermore she tells News 10 when involving the police, the situation depends on the survivor doing what's best for them in their situation. In an obvious situation where one might have a weapon against that survivor, it might be in the survivor's best interest to reach out to the police. On the contrary, if the survivor knows that their partner is going to work and might be able to go home and have a safe hour where they can get away, that would be recommended for survivors.

News 10 looked into the dangers LPD face when responding to domestic violence calls. Sgt. Robin Green said any calls officers go on could be dangerous.

“A mere traffic stop could be dangerous for us, depending on the person's mental state,” said Green.

She adds domestic violence is one of the most dangerous incidents they would respond to. So much so when getting domestic violence calls, an officer is never by themselves as it will always be a two-man unit that gets dispatched to these incidents. Sgt. Green said officers rely on their training as heading to calls of domestic violence is “unfamiliar territory.”

She explains there are several factors that make it unfamiliar to police and are potential hazards.

1. A person's state of mind is unknown. It is unknown if they've been drinking and they're intoxicated. If it was never mentioned in the call when being dispatched.
2. If there are weapons.
3. Going to someone's house, which is their private domain. They don’t know the makeup of someone’s yard and home.

“You may have an individual that we've dealt with before who has been arrested, and just the potential of being arrested makes people's emotions more heightened. The potential of going back to jail and if they have been arrested before now, their penalty will be much steeper and they don't want to go back to jail and sometimes, they will do anything just for us not to take them back to jail. That could mean a hostage situation by not allowing us into the house and holding a victim hostage,” explained Green.

Furthermore, she said an active threat could happen where a person arms themselves with a weapon, and threatens to get in a shootout with officers. There is also suicide by cop because someone don't want to go back to jail.

“It's amazing that just being able to walk away can prevent all those things from happening but because emotions are on the rise and there's so much invested in that relationship they can't and they're willing to harm somebody else [victim, children, or an officer] instead of just giving up and walking away from the relationship,” said Green.

Wherever you are in the state of Louisiana, you can always reach out to the Louisiana Coalition of Domestic Violence who can get you through to the nearest domestic violence shelter and domestic violence agency. Call at 1-888-411-1333. Lafayette itself has a 24/7 crisis line where you can reach an advocate at 337-232-8954. If you find yourself in need of nonresidential services through our family justice center, you can reach them at 337-210-5986.

Even if you’re not sure you’re experiencing domestic violence. They provide nonresidential services to victims of domestic violence to kind of provide safety planning, assess what their needs are, and help them get to where they want to be. LPD does follow-ups with victims monthly to make sure a victim has what is needed, even though an arrest has been made in these cases which is done under the Violence Against Women Act.

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