Warren police officials are calling the department’s new Operation Cycle Break program to target domestic violence a proactive approach to a problem that is often the root of violent crime in the city.

“Domestic assault remains hidden from public view and significantly underreported for a whole host of reasons,” said Warren Police Commissioner Eric Hawkins. “Upon conducting a review of major incidents in this city, we learned that a clear majority had a domestic violence nexus, including many of our homicides.”

Hawkins added Warren officers have responded to more than 9,000 calls involving domestic violence over the past two years.

“This is a cutting edge response and is a model used for successful initiatives across the country that has been specifically tailored to the City of Warren,” said Hawkins.

Implemented four weeks ago and formally announced at a June 6 press conference, OCB is a partnership between law enforcement, courts, advocates, and Wayne State University.

The program seeks to speed the court process and connect both survivors and batterers with resources that can help them move forward.

“We are implementing new protocols to ensure that victims receive immediate support,” said Hawkins. “That includes educating them about their rights and options within the justice system.”

Mandatory intervention at the defendant’s arraignment making batterer intervention counseling a condition of bond and speeding up the court process to ensure that cases move through the court system in a timely fashion are other important pieces of the program.

The 37th District court has Wednesdays assigned as the day when domestic violence cases are heard. All four judges will hear them and implement the OCB guidelines. The goal is to have a quicker turnaround time in court to send the message that domestic violence cases are being taken seriously and that there will be consequences for those who violate the law.

“There are a couple of really unique things here that I have not seen in the 29 years I’ve been on the bench,” said Judge John Chmura, chief judge of the 37th District Court. “Now, as a condition of bail the defendant will have to report to the probation department within 48 hours to sign up for counseling.

“The second thing that is different is scheduling because now with domestic violence cases within 14 days of your arraignment, maybe less, your case will be back in court for the pretrial.”

Chmura said in his experience “a lot of bad things can happen” between arraignment and pretrial so expediting the court process is important.

If a defendant fails to go to counseling, Chmura said consequences will likely be determined on a case-by-case basis.

“It would depend, I think, on why they didn’t go,” said Chmura. “If they couldn’t make it the first 48 hours but they will be there within the next 24, okay that is not a problem or if you couldn’t go because of work, we can work around someone’s schedule.

“But if you didn’t go because you didn’t want to and don’t think you need it, then jail is an option.”

Warren police officers will have mandatory training through Turning Point Macomb. Officers will be required to complete a lethality assessment that will help them identify high-risk situations and prioritize police responses accordingly.

Upon arrest, suspects will be notified that police will be actively monitoring their behavior post-custody.

Hawkins said data from the first four weeks of the OCB program indicates it is already making a difference.

“Since we launched the program, we’ve seen 88 percent of warrant requests for domestic incidents have been authorized for prosecution,” said Hawkins. “That is an increase of 33 percent over the same time period last year.”

In the past month, over 20 offenders have been mandated by the court to enroll in batterer intervention counseling as a bond condition.

“That is 20 individuals that would not have had an opportunity to be exposed to this type of intervention prior to this program,” Hawkins said. “This is a shift from the traditional practice of offering those services and those resources long after the incident has happened.”

Lucido called the new initiative “bold” and added he would like to see other cities follow suit.

“Early intervention is the main concept here as well as pretrial services that are going to be available,” he said.”We have taken it too far in waiting until sentencing to get services for these individuals who need help.

“Early, pretrial services will have better outcomes.”