Camco Town Gets Its Own SVU

By David Madden

SICKLERVILLE, N.J., (CBS) -- A Camden County township has established what amounts to its own SVU to address domestic violence incidents with hopes of not just prosecuting abuse, but helping victims and their families.

Gloucester Township now has two detectives specifically assigned and trained to deal with domestic violence cases.

"Project HIVIS is not simple a domestic violence initiative, " township Police Chief Harry Earle told KYW Newsradio in describing the new program. "It is violence prevention work because we are not only responding to the domestic violence emergency, but we are partnering with many others in the community in treating the public health emergency that both causes domestic violence and continues its dangerous cycle."

The detectives will assess each case to determine the proper level of long term response which will include increased police patrols, unannounced stops at the homes of victims and counseling for victims and their children.

Project HIVIS is partially the result of work done by Rachel Hall, a township police intern last year who was critically injured while riding her bike on the Temple University campus last April.