U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall visited the Parsons Police Department’s Domestic Violence Unit on Friday.
The unit started work on Sept. 1 and helps those impacted by domestic violence in the community and works to prosecute the offenders. The unit receives a state grant that comes from the federal Department of Justice. President Trump early in his term last month froze federal grants and loans, which could have impacted the DVU in Parsons. The freeze was recalled days later.
Detective Lt. Sherri Mc-Guire, Sgt. Tony Adamson and advocate Cyprus Jones visited with Marshall and two of his staff members on Friday. Deputy Police Chief Dennis Dodd was on hand as well.
Adamson said the DVU is working to stop the homicides that have happened between domestic partners over the years. He said 13 people in the last 10 years “have died at the hands of somebody that supposedly loved them.”
He said he and other offi cers go through training to improve how the department responds to such incidents.
Marshall heard that a woman may suffer domestic violence seven times on average before she tries to leave the abuser. He asked the detectives what they’d learned so far since the DVU was operating.
McGuire said most victims of domestic violence aren’t willing to do anything at first. One woman who had suffered violence from her husband for a number of years in different cities — they would relocate once the authorities intervened in a situation — decided the abuse she received in Parsons was enough and took action once police got involved. She got away and took steps to improve her life and her self-image, Marshall heard.
Jones told Marshall that she and the other agencies in the town will do all they can to help a victim of domestic violence. There are still resources needed, though, including housing.
The Safehouse in Pittsburg can help 17 families. Motel rooms are possible.
Adamson told Marshall that City Attorney Ross Albertini has worked with the city judge to increase the bond amounts for those accused of domestic violence. That can help the victim find resources to get away from the relationship and set up a protection from abuse order.
“If we have a little bit of time, say a day, Cyprus can work with our victim and get a PFA in place, a protection from abuse order,” Adamson told Marshall.
He said those who respond to domestic violence incidents work to get the victim in touch with a counselor. The second phone call is to him or Jones.
“We will start triaging the situation, right then, and then try to figure out how to move forward,” Adamson said.
Marshall heard that the detectives wished the DVU would have been in place years ago.
Marshall also toured a room that housed a silent witness display, cutouts with information about victims who died by domestic violence in Parsons. One man murdered his girlfriend, her mother and her brother before killing himself. An infant was left alive and was found crawling around in the gore.
During a press availability, Marshall said the Trump administration is reviewing all federal funding, including grants and loans. Even though the pause was lifted, that spending is still under review. He said the DOJ has multiple grants funding programs across the country and his visit to Parsons helps him understand the reasons behind the funding.
“I think that the DOJ has multiple grants like this and I don’t think I’m qualified enough to say which ones are better than the others. I think it’s good for me to get a feel for them so when I am asked … questions about different grants at least I have some experience,” Marshall said.
He said the federal government made millions in improper payments in the last year alone, and the pause will help find fraud and abuse.
“If you’re running a business, that’s exactly what you would do. You would go in there and put a pause on all spending until you figure out where it’s going.”
Some grants will be held up until the administration figures out “what’s the end user, what’s actually happening with them as well. So I think that that’s we’re going to see … for a while. This country is taking in 5 trillion dollars a year. We’re spending 7 trillion dollars. We have a 2 trillion dollar gap. And I think we have to figure out where the waste, fraud and abuse is. So I think it’s smart to put a pause on things,” Marshall said.
He was asked if he thought, after visiting the DVU in Parsons, if that program could be spared any cuts.
“I think if the money is there. I think our job is to prioritize and see” if there are things more important, less important. “I don’t know that. I think that’s why we need to pause to sit there and figure out what our priorities should be and shouldn’t be,” Marshall said.
He said the purpose of his visit on Friday was educational, trying to see how communities are solving problems. He also visited manufacturing facilities in Parsons.
He said as an obstetrician, he was trained at the time to recognize domestic violence. He realizes that after more education that he was missing some of those instances.
“People were asking for help and you couldn’t hear them. … So when I heard about this grant, what they’re doing here, I wanted to see what type of progress they’re making.”
He was also asked about continued funding for the free lunch program that benefits families of Parsons USD 503 families.
He said he sees value in that because he wants every child to have good nutrition. He thinks that the new secretary of health will work to improve the quality of the food served to school children. He said the last farm bill allocated $60 billion a year on nutrition and that has increased to $180 billion.
“I just want to make sure that money gets to the right people,” Marshall said.
He said there is a low work participation across the country. “ A lot of people are getting aid that probably just need a little hand up to get a job.”
He was also asked about storm season approaching and how the Federal Emergency Management Agency would be able to respond since its future is uncertain.
Marshall claimed that “so much” of the FEMA money has been wasted through fraud and abuse.
“The last administration spent a billion dollars on FEMA money on housing and transportation and food for illegal aliens. Cities like New York City spend $9 million on those illegal aliens. I want to make sure there’s money left to do those projects with,” Marshall said.
Some people in North Carolina still don’t have housing four months after the last hurricane, Marshall said.
“So something is broken with FEMA. We can’t keep doing what we’re doing,” he said.
The $1 billion in spending by FEMA on housing and transportation and food for undocumented people has been in dispute. The previous statements on this combined the spending from 2023 and 2024 for the Shelter and Services Program. Current FEMA funding for migrants does not come from disaster relief money. Congress funds the migrant and disaster relief programs separately. No funds for the SSP program came out of FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund, according to appropriations acts by Congress and budget reports by the Congressional Research Service for the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years. And no money is being diverted from disaster response needs to fund the SSP, the federal Department of Homeland Security recently told Reuters news service.
