When police are called to a domestic violence complaint or a restraining order is issued, the presence of weapons is always a chief concern, said local law enforcement officials.

State law allows police to seize any firearm in plain view at the scene of an incident even if no arrest is made and to seize a weapon from someone suspected of committing a crime even if they have not been arrested. Judges typically order people that are subject to a restraining order to surrender their guns.

Area police said they dont hesitate to use those powers and often work preemptively to remove weapons before the courts issue protective orders on the business day following an arrest.

While involved parties will usually surrender their guns voluntarily, police said, the system isnt foolproof. Individuals can lie or hide weapons, or there can be filing irregularities in the computer database that tracks pistol permits and registrations. And weapons such as hunting rifles dont have be registered with the state.

The relationship between weapons and domestic violence is on center stage locally after an apparent murder-suicide in Southington Saturday, the second time in less than a week that authorities believe a man shot and killed his ex-wife before turning the gun on himself. The other incident was in Wallingford.

In the case of Saudina Mehovic of Plantsville, she had told the court in October of 2009 that her husband Nurija Mehovic says he has a gun, and that she was in constant fear for my life and that of my children.

A restraining order was granted and Southington Police removed him from their West Street home the next day but did not find any guns there.

An investigation is still pending into the registration and permitting associated with a Glock 9mm handgun police recovered from the scene.

Sgt. Lowell DePalma did not have specific details about the case but said officers often seek assistance from the State Police firearms division when they cant find information about a pistol.

It could be a digit of a serial number is entered wrong or theres a misspelling of a name, he said. That part is still under investigation. [State police] have the database. All the files are there.

Although Saudina Mehovic had told her attorney of her husbands claim to have a gun as part of obtaining the restraining order, it was unclear whether she said the same to local police. She had complained to police two days earlier of a domestic incident and threatening from Nurija but refused to provide a written statement to police and no arrest was made.

When police are called to a domestic violence complaint or a
restraining order is issued, weapons are always a chief concern,
local law enforcement officials say.

State law allows police to seize any firearm in plain view at
the scene of an incident even if no arrest is made and to seize a
weapon from someone suspected of committing a crime, even if no
arrest has been made. Protective orders require the surrender of
weapons and judges usually order the same of people subject to a
restraining order.

Area police said they don’t hesitate to use those powers and
often work pre-emptively to remove weapons in criminal cases before
the courts issue orders the next business day.

While involved parties will usually surrender their guns
voluntarily, police said, the system isn’t foolproof. People can
lie or hide weapons, or there can be filing irregularities in the
computer database that tracks pistol permits and registrations. And
some weapons, such as hunting rifles, don’t have to be registered
with the state.

The relationship between weapons and domestic violence is in
sharp focus locally after an apparent murder-suicide in Southington
Saturday, the second such incident in less than a week. Both
involved a man apparently killing his ex-wife, then turning the gun
on himself. The other incident was in Wallingford.

Saudina Mehovic, of Plantsville, had told the court in October
2009 that her husband, Nurija, “says he has a gun,” and that she
was “in constant fear for my life and that of my children.”

A restraining order was granted and Southington police removed
Nurija Mehovic from the couple’s West Street home the next day but
did not find any guns there.

An investigation is pending into the paperwork associated with a
Glock 9mm handgun police recovered from the scene Saturday.

Sgt. Lowell DePalma did not have specific details about the case
but said officers often seek assistance from the state police
firearms division when they can’t find information about a
pistol.

“It could be a digit of a serial number is entered wrong or
there’s a misspelling of a name,” he said. “That part is still
under investigation. (State police) have the database. All the
files are there.”

Although Saudina Mehovic had told her attorney of her husband’s
claim that he had a gun as part of obtaining the restraining order,
it was unclear whether she told local police the same thing,
DePalma said. She had complained to police two days earlier about a
domestic incident and threatening but declined to provide a written
statement and no arrest was made.

Officers typically ask all parties in a domestic incident if
they have guns or if there are weapons in the residence.

The laws pertaining to domestic and family violence are
constantly evolving and many changes have been made over the last
two years in particular, thanks largely to a task force formed by
House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan, D-Meriden.

A bill that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is expected to sign will no
longer allow seized guns to be transferred a family member or other
licensed owner. Instead, the weapons will either be confiscated by
police or go to a licensed firearms dealer.

The confiscation remains active until a criminal case is
resolved, and authorities can destroy weapons held after one
year.

“We destroy quite a bit of firearms,” said Lt. Marc Mikulski,
Wallingford police spokesman.

Issues arise when police must return after an incident to
confiscate weapons.

This can happen because the guns weren’t voluntarily surrendered
during the incident or because state records show there are weapons
outstanding associated with the person or address that police
didn’t know about during their first visit.

At this time, usually the first business day after the initial
incident, Wallingford police launch a secondary investigation.

“We make an arrangement to have them turned over from the person
authorized to possess them,” either to police or someone allowed to
have guns, Mikulski said. “And if not we’ll go over and actually
seize the weapons ourselves.”

Police can hold weapons they seize during an incident for seven
days but that is typically a moot point if an arrest is made since
a criminal protective order will be issued the next business day in
court which will require the surrender of any weapons.

Restraining orders are a civil matter and judges have discretion
to order the confiscation of guns, something they typically do.
Although the order allows 48 hours to get rid of the guns, area
departments said they try to get them sooner.

Lt. James Fasano, Cheshire police spokesman, said he couldn’t
recall an incident in which someone refused to give up guns at the
scene of a domestic incident.

“Rather than having a restraining order issued by the court the
next day and go after the people, we’d rather take them right at
the scene,” he said. “The person understands that when the
protective order is over they can come back and take them.”

While protective orders typically last through the duration of
the criminal case, restraining orders are issued for six months and
can be renewed if the threat remains.

Saudina Mehovic’s restraining order was renewed in May 2010 for
about another month and expired around the time her divorce was
granted. There was no order in effect at the time she was
killed.

Another provision of the new bill will crack down on the
practice of illegally discounting bail bonds fees, something which
helped spring Selami Ozdemir of West Haven in January of last year
after his second domestic violence arrest in four months.

He put no money down on a $25,000 bond and then returned home,
shot his wife and killed himself, authorities say.

Donovan said discounting undercuts judicial efforts to set bail
amounts that will allow dangerous offenders “a cooling off period.”
The law includes more regulation of the bail bonds industry.

Other work includes a pilot global positioning system to alert
people if they are violating a protective order and redoing the
state’s criminal justice computer system to ensure better sharing
of information across all facets of law enforcement, Donovan said.
There’s also been money added this year and for next year to keep
shelters for family violence victims open day and night, seven days
a week.

Acting Lt. Jeffrey Herget, a nine-year veteran of the Meriden
Police Department, welcomes the changes.

“The legislation has changed and that’s a positive,” said
Herget, a member of the Connecticut Coalition of Police Officers to
Prevent Domestic Violence. “I definitely think we can change laws
and can still work harder to improve what we have.”

Donovan said there’s more to be done and he’d like to expand the
monitoring system statewide.

As for Saudina Mehovic, a family member from Idaho is soliciting
money to pay for the body’s transfer to the Netherlands, where
Mehovic’s family lives. They are originally from Bosnia.

Merima Hamzic, of Boise, said she’s hoping to collect $5,000 to
$7,000 to pay for the shipment and burial. Details on how to
contribute were not available Tuesday afternoon.

awittenberg@record-journal.com

(203) 317-2231

Article source: http://www.myrecordjournal.com/southington/article_476f8014-96d7-11e0-ad45-001cc4c002e0.html