TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - When responding to domestic violence calls, the Lucas County Sheriff's office says, they have to be careful, because these are emotionally charged situations.
"You don't know how exactly they're going to react when police are going to intervene, so it's a very cautious time, and we just have to be very cautious when we approach those", said Lieutenant Matt Luetke of Lucas County Sheriff's Office Field Operations.
Luetke said, they normally get multiple domestic calls a day, whether it's from a neighbor, or the person being abused. Many of these situations involve partners who live together.
"Those types of emotions are there and they're present and they're pretty powerful and when it comes right down to it even though you might have feared for your safety a few minutes ago, now somebody is coming to take your loved one away," said Luetke.
When arriving on the scene, authorities' first step is to physically separate the two, and then get statements from both.
"That person will be charged and taken to jail, we identify the primary aggressor and we take them to jail", said Luetke.
Luetke said even if the victim doesn't want to testify, they work to move forward with the evidence they have, in hopes of putting a stop to the abuse.
"It's very dangerous, it's very serious. And it can result in death, some of the tragedies we've seen here locally, were those are the ones that turn in to homicides, it's not some stranger murdering you on the street, it's someone that you live with, it's someone that you love", said Luetke.
The Lucas County Sheriff's Office urges no one to ever stand by in a domestic violence situation and to make a call.
