Domestic Violence Unit
The Beverly Police Departments Domestic Violence Unit was established in 2002 in response to the growing epidemic of domestic violence cases within the City of Beverly. The Beverly Police Department recognized early on that this was not an issue we could address without the support and collaboration of the entire criminal justice system and community partners.
Domestic Violence Coordinator Cindy Baez (978) 922-1155
Our first response was to enter into collaboration with the Healing Abuse Working for Change (HAWC) organization in order to enhance the delivery of services to victims of domestic violence, stalking and sexual assault within the city. There were previously no services available within the city to victims without having to travel out of town.
Our main goal has always been victim safety and offender accountability, with victim safety being paramount. We have gone from having no specific services within the city for victims of domestic violence to having a specialized Domestic Violence Unit, which includes two Domestic Violence Advocates.
It is important to know your rights!
Contact the Domestic Violence Unit at (978) 922-1155
HAWC 24-Hour Hotline: 1-(800) 547-1649
ADVOCACY – Advocates provide supportive free confidential services to victims which include crisis intervention, lethality and risk assessments, safety planning, shelter placement, 1-1 counseling, 24 hour hotline, legal advocacy with restraining order issues, assistance navigating the criminal/civil justice system, referrals to immigration clinic and assistance with u-visas when necessary, next day follow up, referrals to housing stabilization, and community education
Beverly Police established a warrant apprehension Team that runs warrants on a weekly basis to ensure that warrants are enforced and offenders held accountable for their actions.
The goal of a Coordinated Community Response (CCR) is to centralize and coordinate the response of the entire criminal justice system which include the Courts, Police, Prosecution, Parole, Probation, and advocates. Our CCR includes being a part of the Salem High Risk Team, which is a team comprised of department heads from within the criminal justice system who’s goal is to flag cases that have a high likelihood of homicide, in order to put preventive measures in place to deter a potential homicide. We challenge the community to listen, communicate, identify problems, and share ideas that will result in new responses that ensure victim safety and offender accountability.
This is a dedicated team of officers, detectives and advocates who are specially trained in sexual assault response and investigation and will respond to every sexual assault incident. The team will provide immediaste and compassionate investigation, confidential services, resources and referrals, as well as, pursue a rapid apprehension of the offender and strengthend prosecution through aggressive investigation. Team members will participate in the Massachusetts Rape Investigation Certification Program, and Victims of Sexual Assault Response Program.
The domestic violence unit has since its inception provided specialized domestic violence training to all the BPD sworn and civilian employees however in keeping with our goal to coordinate the response of the entire criminal justice system we have focused our training goals to introducing a multidisciplinary approach for training police, prosecution, probation, parole and advocates in order to get all disciplines to the table to collaborate and learn from one another. We also provide free training to community partners when requested.