The Path: Safety Planning
Managing your personal safety is not a strictly legal question. If you are managing a situation that has the potential to impact your safety, it may take creative and discreet action to effectively move forward. Our team draws on its deep experience to provide high-touch safety planning through our service The Path.
Read on for some frequently asked questions about safety planning.
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So often, intimate partner violence, dating violence and sexual assault come with long-term safety consequences. An aggressor may be known to you, in contact with you against your wishes or physically capable of causing additional harm.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to safety. As licensed private investigators and attorneys, we devise strategic safety plans to help clients return to a sense of safety in their lives. This might include an investigation into potential risk, social media and cyber work, physical home risk assessments and so on.
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An order of protection, also known as a restraining order, is a legal document issued by a court to protect an individual from harassment, stalking, or abuse.
Family Court Order of Protection
If you have been harmed or threatened with harm by a person with whom you have a familial or romantic relationship, seeking an order of protection may afford you a measure of protection. Once an order of protection is in place, the person named in the order is required to stay away from you, your home, and your place of work or school, and not to contact you directly or through third parties. If the person violates that directive, they can be arrested and charged with a crime.
Applying for a temporary order of protection in Family Court typically requires you to file a petition outlining the circumstances that necessitate the order. A judge reviews the petition and decides whether to issue a temporary order. Once issued, the person named in the order has to be notified and offered an opportunity to contest the information provided to the court. The judge will hold a hearing and the person you are filing against will have the opportunity to either agree to the terms or contest them and present their side of the story. A judge will then make a determination about whether a final order of protection should be issued. The length of time the order will remain in effect depends on several factors, including the conduct you are alleging and whether or not any aggravating circumstances pertain to it, such as physical injury or prior incidents. In New York, it is important to note that if the person you are seeking an order of protection against lives in a different state, at least some part of the conduct must have occurred in New York.
Criminal Court Order of Protection
In criminal cases, criminal orders of protection are requested by the Assistant District Attorney following an arrest when the defendant charged with a crime appears before a judge for an arraignment. Unlike Family Court orders of protection, criminal orders of protection can be issued to someone without a personal relationship to the defendant. If the defendant is later convicted of the crime that led to their arrest, the judge will typically issue a final order of protection. Violating a criminal order of protection can lead to additional criminal charges being filed against the person. It is important to note that criminal orders of protection do not last forever, even in the case of a conviction.
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Protecting yourself online is increasingly difficult and critically important. You may be surprised by how much information is available about you online by a simple search of your name. Even when you have taken steps to protect it, your digital information and privacy can be compromised in a variety of ways.
If you are concerned about your safety, you may want to take steps to better understand and protect your online footprint. This might include helping to secure your data while using online platforms, working to remove content from specific platforms, and preventing online spaces from being used to harass you or someone you care about.
Additional Information and Resources
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