Side-by-Side to fight abuse
By ROBERT LINNEHAN
The Cherry Hill Sun
11/7/2009

Cherry Hill Township and the Borough of Haddonfield signed a shared services agreement to again provide support for victims of domestic violence abuse. The two municipalities have specialized teams at the police departments to provide counseling for the victims.

The special Side-By-Side program is an inter-local agreement between Cherry Hill and Haddonfield. It offers an easy and accessible support system for the victims of domestic abuse, Mayor Bernie Platt said. The two police departments are also paired with the Camden County Women’s Center.

“Entering shared-service agreements with other municipalities is important on a number of levels. But when sharing a service has the potential to protect people or save lives, it is even more essential to find a way to provide such resources to our neighbors – as is the case with the Township’s Side-By-Side program,” he said.

Developed and organized by the Community Policing Network, the program has a number of resources and a team of well-trained volunteers that assists victims of domestic abuse who come to the police department.

Funded through state grants, the state also provides guidance for the program as well, Platt said.

“Offering an easily accessible, strong and caring support system for victims of domestic violence through Side-By-Side is a service that helps some of the most vulnerable members of our community,” Platt said. “I’m proud of the program we’ve established, and I’m pleased that its strength and effectiveness will allow the Haddonfield police department to direct domestic-violence victims to the confidential counseling services it provides.”

Haddonfield recently proclaimed October as “Domestic Violence Awareness Month,” with members of the borough’s Side-By-Side team being honored at a recent commissioner’s meeting.

Mayor Tish Colombi praised the team for the work they do in the borough and the support they give domestic violence victims.

“The impact of domestic violence is wide ranging, directly affecting individuals and society as a whole, as well as here in this community and throughout the United States and the world,” Colombi read from the proclamation. “Battered women have been in the forefront of efforts to bring peace and equality to the home.”

She went on to laud the domestic violence program and proclaim the month as “Domestic Violence Awareness Month.”

Platt thanked the borough for again deciding to share the service with the township and for helping to provide such a useful service.

“In providing these special services to Haddonfield, we’re sharing lifelines that have the potential to break debilitating and sometimes deadly cycles of domestic violence,” he said.

For more information or to volunteer for the Side-By-Side program, please call 432-8869.