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Sumner proclaims October Domestic Violence Awareness Month; police roll out danger-assessment partnership with Sister’s House
Summary
Sumner officials read a proclamation declaring October Domestic Violence Awareness Month and described a new partnership putting a validated danger-assessment tool into patrol officers’ hands, a change city leaders say will help identify victims at highest risk and bring extra services to them.
Mayor Kathy Hayden read a proclamation at the Sumner City Council meeting on Oct. 6 declaring October 2025 Domestic Violence Awareness Month and highlighting a new partnership between the Sumner Police Department, the City Attorney’s Office, the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office and community advocates.
The proclamation punctuated remarks by police and advocacy partners about the city’s adoption of a danger-assessment tool to be used by officers at domestic-violence scenes. Leila Robinson, executive director of Sister’s House, said the assessment has a research record she described as preventing intimate-partner homicides and “just keep[ing] victims safe.”
“This city is the first jurisdiction in Pierce County to implement the danger assessment at the scene of a domestic-violence incident,” Police Deputy Chief Andy McCurdy told the council, saying officers who were trained on the tool identified a high-risk case almost immediately after training. “Anything 7 and above is considered high risk,” McCurdy said, referring to the score threshold the department is using.
Noel Clark, Sumner’s domestic-violence victim advocate, described coordination between the police, the city attorney’s office and Sister’s House to expand services and enforcement tools. Clark cited recent local ordinances she said the city attorney supported, noting one that creates an offense for exposing minors to domestic violence and carries an automatic 30-day jail sentence upon conviction.
Robinson said Sister’s House began countywide work in 2023 to establish a high-risk domestic-violence response and emphasized the organization’s role in training officers and coordinating intensive services for victims identified as high risk. McCurdy said the assessment’s result prompted “extra efforts” by officers and partners that, in that instance, helped the victim obtain services more quickly.
The proclamation was presented by Police Chief Morickis and dated October 2025. No council vote on the proclamation was recorded; the document was read into the record and advocates and city staff remained at the podium to describe the partnership and process.
Speakers at the presentation included Mayor Kathy Hayden; Police Chief Morickis; Deputy Police Chief Andy McCurdy; Leila Robinson, executive director of Sister’s House; Jalen (domestic violence coordinator, Sister’s House); and Noel Clark (domestic violence victim advocate, City of Sumner).
