February 7, 2005

 

MORE EFFECTIVE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PREVENTION STRATEGIES SOUGHT BY BOARD OF LEGISLATORS’ PUBLIC SAFETY & CRIMINAL JUSTICE COMMITTEE

---Committee concludes lessons learned from Bonner tragedy underscore need for policy changes that could save lives---

After a thorough analysis of the facts surrounding the Bonner tragedy, the Public Safety & Criminal Justice Committee today recommended that the County Executive immediately convene a Work Group to enhance current procedures to better safeguard the lives of domestic violence victims.

“The Bonner tragedy was a wake up call. How could one reported incident of domestic violence end up in two murders, a suicide, a destroyed family and three orphaned children? It was critical to understand what went wrong with the Bonner case to prevent a similar fate for some other family in the future, ” said County Legislator Richard Wishnie (D-Ossining), chair of the Public Safety & Criminal Justice Committee that conducted a formal inquiry into the events leading to Clifford Bonner’s murder of his estranged wife and sister-in-law.

On September 18, 2004, in a Mamaroneck park, Clifford Bonner shot and killed his estranged wife and his sister-in-law. He subsequently killed himself. At the time of the slayings, Bonner was under the supervision of the Department of Probation for a felony conviction on a road rage incident. There was never a single call to authorities regarding any type of domestic violence until July 7, 2004 when Mrs. Bonner reported that she feared for her safety. Mrs. Bonner failed to take advantage of advice to utilize the various procedures available to domestic violence victims in Westchester, including obtaining an Order of Protection or moving to a shelter.

“Our Committee undertook an exhaustive inquiry to determine whether County procedures currently in place to handle incidents of domestic violence were followed. We found that they were,” continued Wishnie. “That determination caused us to ask ourselves whether current policies should be revisited. We concluded that the Bonner inquiry raised enough questions to warrant the formation of a Work Group to focus on developing and implementing more effective domestic violence prevention strategies and policies.”

On behalf of his committee, Legislator Wishnie sent a letter to County Executive Spano requesting that he convene a Work Group to institute new domestic violence prevention policies and procedures that will result in a reduction of cases such as the homicides perpetrated on Michelle Bonner and Canice Rampersad at the hands of Clifford Bonner. Some areas to be examined include raising awareness of the signs of domestic abuse and the programs available to protect victims; hastening the arrest of abusers by publicly disclosing the names and pictures of individuals under a warrant of arrest; and, redesigning the warrant of arrest form so it provides law enforcement with more information about a parole violator’s violence/weapons possession history.

The Work Group would be comprised of members of the Public Safety Committee, experts in the field of domestic violence and representatives from the County’s Department of Probation and Department of Public Safety.