Warren Police Commissioner Eric Hawkins speaks at a press conference Nov. 18.
By: Brian Wells | Warren Weekly | Published November 20, 2025
WARREN — Four months after first announcing it, the Warren Police Department is seeing success in an initiative aimed at combating domestic violence in the city.
The initiative, called Operation Cycle Break, aims to reduce the number of domestic violence calls by enhancing victim safety, streamlining the justice process and ensuring greater offender accountability.
Officials said the initiative is built on four key pillars: victim protection and empowerment, swift justice and deterrence through understanding consequences, making resources accessible and creating pathways for change, and holding offenders accountable and preventing further harm.
In a Nov. 18 press conference, Warren Police Commissioner Eric Hawkins said the department has seen progress thus far.
“Four months into this program, we are already seeing significant and positive changes that reflect our dedication to protecting victims, holding offenders accountable and making this community safer,” Hawkins said.
According to research conducted by Wayne State University, which has partnered with the department in the program, domestic violence has dropped by nearly 7% compared to previous years, Hawkins said.
Hawkins said 259 domestic violence offenders have been through the program since its inception, of which 64% were taken into custody the same day as the incident. He added that less than 5% of offenders have offended again, marking a 57% decline in recidivism.
“What that means is that the rate of re-traumatization has dropped dramatically,” Hawkins said.
As part of the program, following an arrest, offenders are being arraigned sooner — usually within one day of arrest — according to 37th District Court Judge John Chmura.
Additionally, as part of their bond, defendants are required to undergo counseling.
“I think it’s having an effect,” Chmura said. “I’m noticing at the pretrial that it’s changed the demeanor of a lot of the defendants. It’s often the case, the defendants would have a defiant attitude. Their attitude was, ‘I didn’t do anything wrong. The problem is with the complaining witness, not with me. Back off. Leave me alone.’”
That attitude, Chmura said, seems to have softened.
“They’re starting to understand that the problem is with them. The counseling is starting much earlier and it’s having an effect on plea negotiations,” he said.
Sharma Davenport, president and CEO of Turning Point Macomb, a nonprofit that supports victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking, said the program was a long-overdue initiative. Since the beginning of the program, she said, survivors are treated with “dignity.”
“Survivors are protected every step of the way, which is why you are now seeing more survivors that are willing to come forward and press charges. Survivors tell us they feel safer, they feel seen, they feel supported,” she said.
Hawkins said the idea for the program came out of the department’s desire to do something transformative.
“We wanted to have a program that went beyond the reactive and went beyond the symbolism, which are very important, and it’s very important that departments continue to do that. But we wanted a program that could yield some substantive benefits, some tangible benefits, some things where we can actually make an impact in actually breaking the cycle,” he said.
While officials touted the program’s success, a report compiled by Wayne State University’s Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice showed areas that needed improvement, particularly in the number of cases dismissed.
According to the report, of the 259 offenders that went through the program in the four months, 28% of the cases were dismissed.
“The high dismissal rate among DV cases points to a need for strong victim-prosecutor coordination to support cooperation through the court process,” the report states.
The report also states that 44% of offenders had prior arrests for violent behaviors, and 30% had access to weapons.
Hawkins said the data is not leading to any changes in the program yet, but that it is allowing the department to refine its approach.
“We’re not making any changes to our program at this point, but what it has done is raise our awareness, particularly with our lethality assessments,” he said.
While the report showed areas that needed improvement, Hawkins said he hopes the program can serve as a model for other communities.
“I’m hoping that others are watching. I’m hoping that other police departments, both within the state of Michigan and outside of the state of Michigan, are watching what’s happening here and seeing how we’re saving lives and breaking this generational cycle of violence in families,” he said. “I truly believe that once they see what we’re doing, that this will become a model for other police departments.”