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GASTONIA, N.C. – “The very first thing we look for when we pull up is dogs,” explains Gaston County Sheriff’s Deputy Julie Stillwell. She is small–only 5’2″–but says she’s never afraid. Every day, she hunts down the men, and sometimes women, accused of violent abuse. She reads about the abuse one man is accused of from his arrest warrant, “‘By pushing the victim to the ground, stomping on her back, choking her.'” And, “He did this in front of her 12-year-old son.” She continues, “I know we’ve arrested him; this will be three times for me.”
Since 2011, Julie Stillwell’s job has been to stop domestic violence in Gaston County.Β WCCB Charlotte rode along with with her and rolled as she ran into both victims and suspects, using finesse more than force. She quietly, calmly tells one repeat offender, “How are ya man? Listen, I got something for ya. And I also got a warrant on ya.”Β
What Stillwell and her partner do requires leg work and gut instinct. She says after talking to the victim of one suspect, “He’s lying to her to make her think that everything’s taken care of and he can come home.”Β
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Domestic violence is skyrocketing in Gaston County. Stillwell tells WCCB Charlotte when she started three years ago, the unit served 2,000 restraining orders. This year, with more than two months to go, they’re up to nearly 4,000.Β
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When she applied for the role four years ago, Stillwell says, “A lot of people said no, this is not what you wanna do, because it’s the most dangerous job out here.”Β
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Dangerous and difficult. Suspects certainly don’t want to be caught and even victims can make Stillwell’s job hard. But sometimes, help comes from unexpected places. She explains, “He watched everything that this man would abuse his wife, the child would watch and see who come to pick up his dad. Well, he got the tag numbers.” WCCB News @ Ten anchor Morgan Fogarty asked, “This 11-year-old kid?” Stillwell nodded and said, “11-year-old kid got tag numbers and descriptions of people that would come to get him, get his father, and that’s how we found the person.”Β
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Stillwell is most focused on the kids of domestic violence. Not only to get them to safety, but to break the cycle. She says, “Domestic violence is a learned behavior. If they see it, they’re gonna grow up and do it. And we wanna stop that.”Β
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Fogarty asked Stillwell, “Can men who are domestic abusers change?” She replied, “Yes. They can. If they want to. Yes, I’ve seen one or two in the past.”Β
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Repeat offender numbers are dwindling. But new offenders are entered into the system all the time. Stillwell will keep hunting down the suspects. “We called him from her phone and he picks up right away,” she says.
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And make sure every single victim hears this: “Love is not supposed to hurt. In any way.”
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Over a nine-day period in September, Deputy Stillwell made 17 arrests. She credits her partners on the Gaston County Sheriff’s Office domestic violence unit–Deputies Charles Ross, Ronnie Thomas and Scott Wyatt–with the team’s success.
