You can never tell which abusers will obey protection orders and which will not. Recognize that you may need to ask the police and the court to enforce your protection order.

The following are some steps that I can take to help the enforcement of my protection order:

A. I will keep my protection order ______________ (location). (Always keep it on or near your person. If you change purses, that's the first thing that should go in. You can also keep copies in the car, at the office, etc.)

B. I will give my protection order to police departments in the communities where I usually visit family and friends, and in the community where I live.

C. There should be a county registry of protection orders that all police departments can call to confirm a protection order. I can check to make sure that my order is in the registry. The telephone number for the county registry of protection orders is ______________. (Ask the Sheriff's office or the Clerk of the Court.)

D. For further safety, if I often visit other counties in my area, I might file my protection order with the court in those counties. I will register my protection order in the following counties: ______________ and ______________

E. I can call the local domestic violence program if I am not sure about B, C, or D above or if I have some problem with my protection order.

F. I will inform my employer, my minister, my closest friend, ______________ and ______________ that I have a protection order in effect.

G. If my protection order gets lost or stolen, I can get another copy from the County Courthouse by going to the Circuit Court Clerk's office at ______________.

H. If my protection order is violated, I can call the police and report a violation, contact my attorney, call my advocate, and/or advise the court of the violation.

I. If the police do not help, I can contact my advocate or attorney and will file a complaint with the chief of the police department.

J. I can also file a private criminal complaint with the district justice in the jurisdiction where the violation occurred or with the district attorney. I can charge my abuser with a violation of the Order of Protection and all the crimes that he or she commits in violating the order. I can call the domestic violence advocate to help me with this.

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