The Ruidoso Police Department received federal fundung from VOCA (Victim of Crimes Act) in 1997 to develop and establish a staff position to work with the victims of violent crimes. Such violent crimes would include: Aggravated Assault, Aggravated Battery, Criminal Sexual Contact or Criminal Sexual Penetration of a Minor, Survivors of Homicide, Voluntary Manslaughter, Involuntary Manslaughter, Abandonment or Abuse of a Child, Elder Abuse, Rape Victims, Aggravated Stalking, Domestic Violence Victims, Kidnapping, Arson, Vicimts of DWI, Robbery, and Hate and Bias Crimes.
One of the goals of the program is to provide comprehensive services to victims. Such services that our Victim Advocate provides is: Crisis Intervention, assessment of personal safety and physical protection, legal advocacy in obtaining Orders of Protection against Domestic Abuse, inform and assist with Victim Compensation, information about Victim Rights, I&R to other community support agencies, personal advocacy, criminal justice advocacy, In person, telephone, and follow up contact with victims and limited case management.
Ms. Dawna Reyes was the Department's first Victim Advocate hired and was primarily responsible for developing, establishing and implementing the programs services to victims within Lincoln County. Dawna has retained her position as the Department's Victim Advocate and Project Manager for the past 11 years. Ms. Reyes is no stranger to working with Law Enforcement; prior to accepting her current position she worked with the State of New Mexico Human Services Ddepartment, Social Services Division, now known as CYFD in Lincoln County from 1988 to 1993. She conducted child abuse and elder abuse investigations throughout Lincoln County and was involved with various Law Enforcement agencies during Child Sexual Abuse investigations.
Ms. Reyes has been licensed to practice Social Work since 1990, when the State of New Mexico required that all social workers needed to be licensed as professionals. Ms. Reyes is a licensed Baccalaureate Social Worker. She has a nursing background from UTEP, obtained a BA Degree in Psychology and Social Sciences from WNMU. Criminal Justice and Paralegal studies are also included in her education background.
The forerunner to our current domestic violence assistance program was the Family Crisis Center, which was started by Chief Swenor in 1984 with the support of the Ruidoso Altrusa Club and involvement of many supportive citizens. The original Family Crises Center board consisted of Frankie Jarrell, Jennie Dorgan, Dr. Brown and her husband Paul Voderman, Ovela Estes and Father Burdette Stampley, just to name a few. The Family Crisis Center's participants were trained volunteers, who would respond to domestic violence victims, provide victims with whatever assistance was needed and were able to provide temporary shelter for up to 3 days in an undisclosed location; pending other arrangements for continued safety and protection.
The Family Crisis funding source was primarily generated through donations, but the major fund raiser was the semi-annual Family Crisis Center's Spaghetti Dinners at the InnCredible Restaurant, which were always well attended and with invaluable support from the local service clubs. The Spaghetti Dinners were local social events for most of the Family Crisis Center's tenure.
Domestic violence continues to remain the second highest reported crime; property crimes being the first. Lincoln County had limited resource agencies to address and assist victims of domestic violence. Prior to the Ruidoso Police Department's Victim Assistance Program, there was the Family Crisis. Telephone contact for assistance was a 24 hour hotline through the Ruidoso Police Department's dispatch center. A small group of citizens from the community, who were primarily business professionals, comprised the group of volunteers. This group of volunteers eventually disbanded after the department received funding for a part-time paid position. The Family Crisis volunteers were the first of its kind in Lincoln County to address domestic violence.
The Gateway Church of Christ was also involved in providing various types of assistance for domestic violence victims, such as transportation, short-term shelter, and bus fare to provide victims the opportunity to return to a location where an extended family support system existed. Other services included a clothing and food bank.
With the existence of the Ruidoso Police Department's Victims Assistance Program, Ms. Reyes gathered, collected, and submittedd data to the New Mexico Interpersonal Violence Datat Cental Repository regarding victims of domestic violence that had received services and as a result of this yearly data collection, in 2003 lincoln County was ranked number one in the State with the most domestic violence incidents occurring per capita. Community awareness regarding domestic violence came to a forefront with this published data and funding for Lincoln County from several State agencies became available for various non-profits to submit proposals for funding to provide services to victims of domestic violence.
Over the past several years, additional services have been established in Lincoln County to assist victims of domestic abuse. COPE, an agency from Alamogordo, has established an additional office in Ruidoso and it has been in operation for several years.This agency has two advocates available to provide case management and other support services to victims, including a weekly victim support group. They also provide a program for domestic violence abusers. This agency was also instrumental in developing and implementing a coordinated community effort known as the Lincoln County Community Council on Violence Against Women. It established four work groups to meet monthly and address on-going issues related to domestic violence. A Sexual Assault Response Team, consisting of emergency personnel, nurse examiners, Law Enforcement Officers, prosecutors, rape crisis advocates and counselors working to develop programming for immediate and on-going support for victims of sexual abuse, is now a joint effort with the 12th Judicial District of Lincoln and Otero Counties.
In March of 2007, "The Nest", a domestic violence shelter, opened its doors to serve victims of domestic crimes. This non-profit agency receives various sources of funding. "The Nest" is the first domestic violence shelter in Lincoln County. This state of the art shelter for victims of domestic violence is supported by the efforts of our area service clubs, community contractors, the Hubbard Foundation, community churches, and dozens of concerned citizens that volunteer their time, effort and monies to continue to provide and meet the needs of domestic violence victims requiring placement in a shelter with the option of long term placement for up to a three month period.
Lincoln County has come a long way from being just a rural resort town for visitors. It is a growing community and like other communities in New Mexico, it does have the same type of crimes and is now able to address and provide assistance both to its residents and visiting population who become victims of domestic violence.
