Groton police found the body of Mary Fairbairn, 57, lying in bed in a pool of blood. An autopsy showed she had been stabbed 27 times. Her husband immediately confessed.
They had been warned repeatedly that Mary’s husband threatened her, a family member said, but did little to intervene. Indeed, police were called twice to the couple’s home in the week before the stabbing over concerns about Mary’s well-being. In both cases, police declined to make an arrest, then kept the reports locked away.
It has also harmed victims by making it difficult — even impossible — to obtain records they need for custody battles and restraining orders. But even supporters of that provision now acknowledge they have no evidence that actually happened. Overall, the number of reports of domestic violence remained virtually unchanged after the law went into effect in 2014, according to data from more than a dozen of the largest police departments in the state.
Immediately after the law passed, police in Waltham locked away records on Jared Remy’s long history of domestic violence, making it harder to review whether enough was done to hold him accountable before he murdered his partner, Jennifer Martel.Kimberly Yox, a lawyer who represents survivors of domestic violence, said it’s ironic that Remy’s police records are now secret, since what was publicly reported about those records helped spur lawmakers to take action against domestic violence.
“Using this law to hide how the system responded is not serving anyone,” said Laura Van Zandt, executive director of REACH Beyond Domestic Violence, a regional domestic violence organization focused on prevention and intervention. The criminal charges were later dropped after his wife refused to testify, but a log of internal investigations shows the department found he violated department rules. Still, the department kept him on the force and locked away its report on the investigation.
Geneva Davis shows art she made on canvases slashed by her ex-boyfriend. Davis was beaten and held hostage for hours by her ex at her apartment. Davis says people deserve to know these heinous crimes are happening in their community. So she believes the records should be available to anyone.In other cases, advocates and survivors say, the exception for victims to obtain reports is far too narrow.
Source: Law Daily Report (lawdailyreport.net)
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