KINGSTON, N.Y. -- It's back to school Wednesday for about 25 members of the law enforcement community in Ulster County. The topic: Domestic violence and a new law on the books.
"The statute's been in effect for almost a year now. The officers are starting to see some of the cases that they've made arrests on earlier, come into the court system," said Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright.
The cases deal with strangulation. A crime authorities said might not cause visible physical injuries and one that was difficult to make arrests on before November 2010.
"You might get a harassment out of it, because a lot of times, obstruction of breathing or strangulation leaves no marks or anything. And to have an assault charge you have to show physical injury," said Ulster County Sheriff Paul Van Blarcum.
Now, offenders can be charged with a misdemeanor or felony. Since January, the Ulster County District Attorney's office has had about 50 cases.
"Within 10 seconds, if you apply a fairly minimal amount of pressure to a person's neck, you can cause unconsciousness," said Carnright.
Wednesday's training tackled the signs and symptoms responding officers should look for. The Ulster County Sheriff said his department averages about three domestic violence related calls a day. A trend that authorities said is on the rise.
"Since July, we've had almost 2,000 incidents reported to law enforcement," said Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Culmone.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month in Ulster County.
District Attorney Holley Carnright is up for re-election this year. His opponent is Jon Sennett.
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