Some of our most frustrating shortcomings as individuals and as a society come not from our failure to perceive solutions but from our failure to perceive problems. This week, The Bee reports on local efforts to get a clearer view on the notoriously hidden problem of domestic violence. Willful intimidation, emotional and economic abuse, physical and sexual assault, and the tragic isolation of victims of domestic violence too often cover this kind of life-denying abuse behind a mask of normalcy held in place by fear.

According to official Newtown police statistics, in 2010 there were 83 offenses associated with “domestic disputes” and 17 other similar cases linked to court actions and restraining orders. But both the Newtown Police Department (NPD) and The Women’s Center in Danbury, the region’s lead service agency for victims of domestic abuse, agree that the true scope of the problem lies hidden not only in statistics for other crimes ranging from disorderly conduct to murder, but in the fearful silence of its victims. Researchers who study family violence find that while one in every four women will encounter domestic violence in her lifetime, most will never report it to police.

This difficulty in perceiving the problem is the impetus for an initiative within the NPD to establish a lieutenant-grade domestic violence liaison to work with The Women’s Center and other associated agencies to provide a coordinated response to and disposition of cases involving abuse and violence in the home. Working with trained specialists should help local police to deal safely and wisely with some of the community’s most vulnerable victims living in some of its most dangerous conditions. It should also help them sharpen their eyes in the routine administration of law enforcement throughout the town for the telltale signs and behavioral patterns of domestic violence and abuse.

We are encouraged to know that Newtown’s Police Department has not been lulled into complacency on this issue by its own statistics. Violence in the home is one of the few crimes routinely committed in every town, regardless of its affluence or economic standing, that multiplies its victims across generations. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence reports that 30 to 60 percent of those who abuse domestic partners also abuse children in the household, and boys who witness violence in their home are twice as likely to perpetuate both partner abuse and child abuse when they become adults. Early intervention by law enforcement and service agencies working in tandem can help break that cycle and improve public safety and the quality of life in the communities they serve now and in the future.

We all have a stake in the outcome of this effort. If you want to help bring this problem into clearer focus, speak up about domestic violence when you see or hear about it. Contact Lieutenant Christopher Vanghele at 203-426-5841, The Women’s Center at 203-731-5206, or the 211-Infoline.