In the spring of 2018, the city of Kingston, New York announced its implementation of the Intimate Partner Violence Intervention (IPVI). The IPVI partnership includes the Ulster County District Attorney's Office, Ulster County Probation Department, Kingston Police Department, Ulster County Crime Victims Assistance Program, and Family of Woodstock. Together, this partnership intervenes early with low-level intimate partner violence offenders, puts them on notice of community intolerance of intimate partner violence and that further and more serious offending will be met with a meaningful legal response, and takes special steps to address offenders who have proven themselves to be most dangerous.
The implementation was heralded by Governor Cuomo and the New York Division of Criminal Justice Services as a “comprehensive safety initiative” that will “hold offenders accountable and keep the community safe.”
The National Network for Safe Communities’ Intimate Partner Violence Intervention (IPVI) was introduced during a press conference Tuesday afternoon at City Hall. Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright, flanked by cardboard silhouettes representing 11 local women killed by their partners, said the initiative uses statistical analysis and data from different agencies to identify people who might commit intimate partner violence.
“Once we’ve identified a person who we think is going to commit domestic violence again, we have personal contact with them,” Carnright said. “In addition to the personal contact we have with the offender or potential offender, we have a parallel process where we engage the victims. We do what we’ve been doing for a while. We try to educate the victims, make sure they understand about services that are available to them.”
