RGC welcomes Deacon, proclaims January stalking awareness month


RIO GRANDE COUNTY- Rio Grande County commissioners opened their first of the year meeting on the morning of Jan. 12 and welcomed newly elected District 1 Commissioner Scott Deacon. The board quickly moved into the agenda, asking for nominations for chairperson. Commissioner for District 3 Gene Glover nominated himself for the chairperson position, which was seconded by Deacon. The board also approved a nomination for Commissioner John Noffsker to serve as co-chair for 2021.
Deacon won his seat in a landslide primary vote against previous commissioner Suzanne Bothell earlier this summer and comes to the board as a Republican representative.
Next on the agenda, board members welcomed Rio Grande County Victim Advocate Courtney Arthur who presented the board with a proposal to designate January as stalking awareness month. Arthur explained that stalking goes hand-in-hand with domestic violence cases, stating that only 6% of cases are reported annually out of an estimated 6 to 7.5 million cases per year nationwide. “I have invited my Sheriff Don McDonald, South Fork Police Chief Hank Weber and Del Norte Police Chief Frank Archuleta to show that all law enforcement agencies in the county support this proclamation,” said Arthur.
According to statistics from the Stalking Prevention, Awareness and Resource Center, stalking occurs all over the country. One in eight employed individuals dealing with a stalker lose time from work and one in seven individuals dealing with a stalker will relocate or move. Stalking often occurs hand-in-hand with domestic violence and includes physical violence. It can also include cases where there is sexual violence, including rape cases.
Twenty-percent of stalkers have been found to use weapons as a means to intimidate or threaten their victims and 76% of femicides were found to have some type of stalking by intimate partners a year before the end result. These numbers are staggering in relation to domestic violence cases that have been on the rise over the course of 2020 due to families remaining at home because of the pandemic.
Reporting stalking cases can help prevent violence or death in many cases. “This is near and dear to my heart. As a victim’s advocate, I deal with a lot of domestic violence cases here in the county. The biggest reason I would like to get this out there to our public is because of the fact that only 6% of stalking is reported and that is nationwide. It is something that is not talked about often, but it needs to be talked about.”
“It can lead to PTSD, anxiety and a host of other mental health issues, so I think it is important that we show the public we are here, we are listening and that we care. We need to show that us at the county and local law enforcement are not going to put up with it and that we are taking a stand against it. I ask you today to sign this proclamation to show that we as a county are going to take a stand against it,” finished Arthur.
Commissioner Noffsker made the motion to approve the proclamation designating January as Stalking Awareness month in Rio Grande County which was then seconded by Deacon and passed by chairperson Glover.