Swift Justice
A kiosk at Gig Harbor City Hall in Pierce County, Wash., allows domestic violence victims to access criminal justice services. For instance, victims can request and obtain temporary restraining orders against abusers, typically within 24 hours. The process requires the victim to complete an affidavit under oath and explain what they experienced; Washington state law also requires victims to show acts or threats of physical aggression, provide identification, and undergo a background check.
Victims who apply for a restraining order using the kiosk typically input the required information in about 30 minutes, according to Craig Roberts, Pierce County’s domestic violence coordinator. The kiosk, which is always in the presence of a county court clerk or other community advocate, allows a rejected application to be returned from the Tacoma office if something is wrong with the form, says Roberts.
Victims can then make changes and resubmit the form which, if approved, is printed out and submitted to the court commissioner, who has the option of granting or denying the restraining order.
Roberts says the county hopes to add more kiosks across the 1,800-square-mile county as well as automate the entire process, including notification to the victim’s closest police department via GIS technology. “We’re looking toward going with cable modems with Internet access to circumvent having to hook up to someone else’s network,” said Roberts.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Government Technology (09/04) Vol. 17, No. 9, P. 42; MacKay, Jim .
