Local program strives to ensure those arrested for domestic violence don’t become repeat offenders

JACKSON, Tenn. — For 15 years, a local probation company has been doing all it can to ensure those arrested for domestic violence do not become repeat offenders.

This is the Batterer Intervention Program. It is an option for those on supervised probation for domestic violence through Tennessee Correctional Services.

“Think about jail,” Tennessee Correctional Services Director of Programs Keith Bryant said. “You don’t want that to be their factor, but you also want them to realize that’s the consequence.”

Offenders meet every week for 26 weeks. Miss more than three classes, and it is back behind bars.

“There’s ability to make your family whole, but first you have to start with yourself,” said Tennessee Correctional Services Regional Director Stacy Miller.

Rusticus Harris, 28, believes losing his mother when he was 12 and never dealing with it spilled over into his relationship.

“I ended up doing so much damage to the lady I was talking to, that she had very severe swelling on her jaw,” Harris said.

He said this course is his second chance.

“I wouldn’t want to see no man do my mom like that,” Harris said. “I do think about it from the aspect.”

As a father of two, Johnathan Green said the class has given him a lot to think about when it comes to making better choices.

“It makes you think,” Green said. “Something that you don’t do. Something that I didn’t do at first, and I can say I did that and I’m a better person now.”

The instructor said in class, these men are able to hold each other accountable. TCS is just guiding them moving forward.

“I’m not here to fix them because they are not broke,” Bryant said. “They’re not criminals. They’re not bad people. They’re people who made poor choices.

Both men said this course has helped them not only become better men but also better dads.

“At every moment no matter what I’m doing, I focus on my kids, my family,” Green said. “I don’t want to be in jail. They need me. They depend on me.”

“If it’s genuine, if, you know, you’re trying to grow and develop in life, you’re not going to want to keep taking those back steps like that,” Harris said.

Although TCS is just a probation company on paper, their goal is to show offenders they are still valuable to the community even though they have made mistakes.

“Everybody, no matter what walk of life we come from, we all have a few skeletons in our closet,” Miller said. “It’s that fact that they acknowledge their abusive behavior towards their partner, and they’re committed also to making sure that violent behavior doesn’t happen again.”

“No, I don’t see it being an issue again,” Green said. “It shouldn’t have been an issue in the first place. But sometimes the Lord puts us through certain things to put us in position to help people in the future.”

Each year, about 200 men go through the Batterer Intervention Program in Madison County. The TCS program has a 75 percent completion rate.