Senator Nozzolio Recognizes October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Encourages Victims of Domestic Violence to Register for SAVIN and Pushes For Enactment of “Brittany’s Law – The Domestic Violence Prevention Act”

Continuing his aggressive efforts to protect victims and raise awareness of violence against women and children, State Senator Mike Nozzolio is recognizing October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month and is encouraging victims of domestic violence to register to receive life saving alerts through the Statewide Automated Victim Information and Notification Network (SAVIN).

“Domestic violence is a tragic crime that crosses all ethnic, age, religious and socioeconomic boundaries. Every year, more than six million women are abused - more than 192,000 in New York State alone,” said Senator Nozzolio. “That is why I am working aggressively to help protect victims of domestic violence by making them aware of the life saving SAVIN alert system.”

SAVIN allows victims of domestic violence to receive alerts when Family Court orders of protection are served through the Statewide Automated Victim Information and Notification Network (SAVIN) system. This system instantly notifies victims with information designed to help protect their safety. SAVIN sends instant notification to victims via text message, email, fax and automated phone - 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Currently, this service is available in all counties outside of New York City.

Individuals can register to receive SAVIN alerts by visiting www.nyalert.gov and clicking on the “Orders of Protection” box on the left menu. When registering with SAVIN, victims also can identify additional individuals to be notified when orders of protection are served, such as advocates, attorneys, friends or family members.

Additionally, Senator Nozzolio is sponsoring and aggressively working to enact “Brittany’s Law – The Domestic Violence Prevention Act”, which would create a publicly accessible, online registry of violent criminals. This measure is named in memory of Brittany Passalacqua who was brutally murdered along with her mother, Helen Buchel, at their home in Geneva. The perpetrator was John Edward Brown, a violent convicted felon who had been released from prison early after serving only 2 ½ years for brutally assaulting his infant daughter in 2003. Brown had been released on parole just months before he committed the murders.

 “Brittany’s Law represents a major step forward for New York in the fight against violent crime and domestic abuse crimes. By putting new measures in place to track violent offenders and keeping our communities informed of their whereabouts, Brittany’s Law will save lives. As Chairman of the Senate Codes Committee and former Chairman of the Crime Victims, Crime and Correction Committee, I am committed to enacting tougher sentencing laws for violent criminals, reinforcing laws to protect women and children from domestic violence, and strengthening the rights of crime victims to prevent future tragedy from occurring,” said Senator Mike Nozzolio.

 “Brittany’s Law” would establish tougher penalties for violent offenders so they can no longer threaten the lives and safety of innocent people in our communities and would require all individuals convicted of a violent felony to register with the New York State Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) upon their release from prison and when they move. The registry would be accessible to the public, similar to the registry of sex offenders that the State currently has in place.

 The New York State Senate adopted Brittany’s Law in 2011, 2012 , 2013 and 2014, but the New York City-controlled leadership of the State Assembly has repeatedly refused to bring this important legislation to the floor for a vote. Senator Nozzolio has continued his efforts to see the measure enacted into law and has worked with law enforcement officials, crime victims’ advocates and Dale Driscoll, grandmother to Brittany Passalacqua, for whom the law is named.