SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. — In the past five years, only 5 California officers have died because they responded to a "disturbance" call. This “catchall” phrase has presented a litany of dynamic situations and changing scenarios that ultimately proved deadly for officers like Deputy Mark Stasyuk and Officer Tara O’Sullivan.
“I don’t think it’s any secret to the public that domestic violence, domestic disturbance, [or] disturbance calls - these are all… highly emotional, so that makes them all the more dangerous to respond to,” said Sacramento Sheriff’s spokesperson Sgt. Tess Deterding.
Each department has their own language to define certain calls, but generally the difference between "domestic violence" and "domestic dispute" is marked by physical violence or a verbal argument.
Before law enforcement arrives
Due to the high emotions, irrational behaviors, and the dynamic situations, Sgt. Deterding said law enforcement knows that domestic violence or disturbance calls can be “more inherently dangerous and unpredictable than a lot of other calls than we would be responding to.”
That unpredictability makes the initial call for service so important. The communications center finds out the who, when, where, what, locations, names, and birth dates that help identify the people an officer will engage with.
That identification is an aid to law enforcement, "because once we identify the parties that we’re going to be dealing with it opens up a lot more tools for us in terms of criminal history,” Sgt. Deterding said.
Officers can get history on the location and how any previous interactions there have gone. It also allows officers to be safer in responding by letting them know if there are weapons in the home.
“We start building information so that helps us determine what type of response will be necessary under the circumstances,” she said.
Resolutions can be complicated
There’s no routine for responding to a domestic violence, domestic disturbance, or disturbance call. Sgt. Deterding said the facts drive the response and a lot of new information can be sent in from other callers as they are responding.
“Obviously taking all that into account, we may approach things one of really a hundred different ways,” she said.
“It’s not just ‘oh, it’s a domestic violence call’ here’s how we respond A, B, and C. It’s too dynamic for something like that,’” she added.
To the Sheriff’s Office, a disturbance might generally mean a “disturbance to the peace,” however it’s a catchall term that fits a myriad of situations.
Both Deputy Stasyuk and Officer O’Sullivan were taken in responses to “disturbances,” which were dynamic and changing scenarios. In the case of Stasyuk, his disturbance was a man causing a disturbance at store that eventually led to an exchange of gunfire fight that claimed his life.
“When you’re talking about domestic violence between two people that are in some type of dating or marital relationship, emotions are high a lot of times,” Sgt. Deterding said. “If you’re dealing with people during break-ups, they’re in obviously a very volatile time and people tend to be irrational when they’re highly emotional. So, we in law enforcement know that domestic violence calls are more inherently dangerous and unpredictable than a lot of other calls that we would be responding to.”