A fixed court team three judges, attorneys, a resource coordinator, a court liaison to victim advocates and a defendant monitor ensures that defendants are carefully monitored, victims have access to comprehensive services and judges have the information they need to make quick and effective decisions. The response to domestic violence is immediate, certain and consistent. It includes both traditional punishment as well as mandated participation in batterers' intervention and strict enforcement of orders of protection. One of three courtrooms is dedicated exclusively to monitoring defendants' compliance with conditions of sentence. Defendants are more accountable for their actions because a team of three judges knows the full history of each case and shares information with the Probation Department, batterers intervention programs and others to promote a coordinated response.
Customized technology helps the judge make more informed decisions.
For example, the judge can access compliance information provided directly by the Court's off-site partners. The Court shares information with the Bronx Felony Domestic Violence Court and the Bronx Family Court to create a comprehensive response to domestic violence in Bronx County. At any given time, the Court handles 2,500 cases and closely monitors about 700 defendants who are mandated to attend batterers intervention and other programs as conditions of their sentences. Partners The Bronx Misdemeanor Domestic Violence Court's partners include the Bronx District Attorney's Office , Safe Horizon , the New York City Department of Probation and the New York City Police Department . Funding comes, in part, from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services under a VAWA S.T.O.P. grant.