Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick wants to send a message to abusers: Federal Way will not tolerate domestic violence.

Insisting that her department will do its part to recognize October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Chief Kirkpatrick rallied her team of officers to round up abusers with outstanding warrants and put them in jail.

The 10-hour initiative, referred to as the DV Warrant Apprehension Emphasis, brought together three teams of eight officers and a lieutenant last Wednesday with the goal of serving some of the city's 500 outstanding family violence warrants.

Federal Way PD joined this nation-wide campaign, Chief Kirkpatrick said in her office last week, because the department has recently placed a higher level of importance on punishing family violence crimes.

"Domestic violence is something we've made a priority here," Kirkpatrick said before the third team hit the streets in the final five-hour shift of serving warrants.

"Intimate partner violence corrupts the soul of the community," said the chief. "It absolutely corrodes it."

Commander Andy Hwang shared his excitement with the program. The umbrella project, now in its third year Hwang said, began in Clackamas County, Oregon, and has gained national acclaim with law enforcement agencies in the Northwest and beyond.

"This program is an excellent way to send a message about family violence," Hwang said, "and hold individuals accountable for DV."

This year, Federal Way joined other cities in King County to swap warrants. This tactic, the Commander said, allowed other agencies to serve Federal Way warrants on abusers who have relocated to other communities. Likewise, Federal Way officers can bust perpetrators who have moved to Federal Way with outstanding warrants from other cities in King County.

Chief Kirkpatrick said the department hoped to successfully apprehend seven percent of the total number of warrants the teams served.

Despite their efforts, however, the program only succeeded in nabbing three percent. Federal Way officers served 101 warrants and made three arrests in the 10-hour-long detail.

The numbers-while lower than projected-don't surprise Lieutenant John Everly. The Lieutenant said the transient nature of many of these abusers make serving warrants-some as many as two years old-extremely difficult.

"A lot of these people are constantly migrating," Everly said as he navigated the departments new, blue Suburban by blocks of duplexes and apartments along Southwest Campus Drive. "They're getting kicked out of one apartment complex and going to another."

Everly's evening shift began at 5 p.m. when most people return home from work. Chief Kirkpatrick said the governing case law requires the department to serve misdemeanor warrants, like those for domestic violence, during reasonable hours. The first team hit the streets before 6 a.m., the final group served warrants from 4 to 9 p.m.

Everly and his team spent three hours finding little more than dead ends in their first 20 attempts.

"He's already moved on," the Lieutenant said as he returned to the police vehicle after serving a warrant at a trailer park near 288th and Military Road. "He hasn't lived here in over a year."

Everly punched a few keys on the laptop and the next warrant appeared on the screen. He fired up the Suburban and headed for an address off Dash Point Road. A woman answered the front door of the modest rambler located in a family neighborhood. The suspect, a former boyfriend she said, had already moved out.

"This is just how serving warrants is sometimes," Everly said as he returned to the station. "The odds just aren't in our favor...it can be hot some times and cold others."

By 9 p.m. last Wednesday, the team had made one arrest in 53 attempts.

"With these odds," the Lieutenant said, "It's a good thing we're not in Vegas."