Bismarck, ND: Violence too often in evidence

Tribune editorial | Posted: Sunday, March 21, 2010 2:00 am

Violence shatters life, and despite North Dakota's boast as a safe place, we have too much of it.

Several killings, and an apparent incident of high-profile domestic violence, over a matter of weeks, has jabbed many of us in our denial's soft underbelly. Strangulation. Punches. Bruises. Death. In its less-reported, more-common forms, this violence goes on everyday, but we think to protect ourselves by ignoring it. Except when it makes front page headlines.

"As statistics show, however, there are areas of concern. Chief among them is the continuing upward trend in violent crimes, including rape and aggravated assault, which increased significantly in 2008," so said North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem last fall when he released the statewide crime numbers for 2008.

Each one of these crimes has a story, frequently it involves alcohol and anger. They often involve people who would not, or could not, reach out for help when they needed it. In some of the stories, warning signs were missed, and in others the violence seems completely irrational and random. There's no simple solution to violence.

However, a first step in turning back violence would be to put denial aside. To be aware of the potential for violence in our families, neighborhoods and communities. And to support those groups and agencies that care for the victims.

Reported violent crimes were up 16.8 percent during 2008 in North Dakota, and forceable rapes were up 10 percent. Since 1999, aggravated assaults have increased by 240 percent. Because the numbers are small, in terms of the state's population and crimes, they can mislead. But violent crime has steadily trended up over the past seven years, with the number of incidents doubling over that time.

Domestic violence, too, continues to rise -- 6 percent last year and 7 percent in 2008. There were 4,569 new domestic violence victims last year, with 94 percent of them women, according to the North Dakota Council on Abused Women.

Consider:

-- A 6-year-old Wishek area girl was the victim of an attempted rape on Feb. 22, a 23-year-old man has been charged with the crime, fighting with deputies and aiming a shotgun at deputies.

-- 44-year-old Noreen Hail, believed murdered on Feb. 28 by her husband at Berthold.

-- 30-year-old Robert Varner, apparently killed during an altercation with another man on Feb. 28 at Wishek.

-- A Bismarck woman was the victim of apparent domestic violence March 11, her husband, a state legislator, has been charged. If convicted, it would be his second offense.

-- 30-year-old Jessica Bollinger of Bismarck, believed murdered. Cause of death was "multiple blunt force injuries to the head, neck and torso." Her husband has been charged with murder. She was apparently killed in front of her 3-year-old son.

Too much violence. Too many lives shattered.