Scarsdale's coordinated network of safety resources can help residents who fear domestic violence or a mental health crisis in their household, but only if someone picks up the phone. That's the message Jay Genova, executive director of Scarsdale Family Counseling Service, delivered in a July 15 public statement following the killing of Marian Green.

Green, 71, a longtime chair of the Village's Advisory Council on People with Disabilities, was found dead at her Fox Meadow home on Tuesday, July 7. Her son Chester Green, 26, was charged with second-degree murder and arraigned without bail. He is due back in court Wednesday, Aug. 5. The charge is an accusation; he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

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The killing was Scarsdale's first homicide in a decade, according to police.

At the Tuesday, July 14, Village Board meeting, Mayor Justin Arest honored Green's advocacy work and thanked the Scarsdale Police Department. "Chief DelBene and his officers responded with professionalism, care, and resolve to a call no community ever wants to receive," Arest said.

Genova, a licensed clinical social worker who has led SFCS for more than a decade, said the village maintains a layered safety net: the Scarsdale Police Department and Village Ambulance Corps as first responders; Youth Outreach Programs placing mental health professionals in the schools; SFCS itself, which offers individual and family counseling plus an Aging in Place program for seniors that has operated since the mid-1980s; the SAFE Coalition for violence-prevention awareness; and SAY (Scarsdale Action for Youth), which runs educational programs on mental health and substance abuse.

"We have a strong system of protection here in Scarsdale, but that system's success relies upon the system being activated by somebody," Genova said.

He identified four risk factors that predict potential violence: a past history of violence, untreated mental health problems, substance abuse, and access to firearms. He described violence as a continuum that begins with aggressive language and escalates through threats, pushing, shoving, and choking before reaching its worst outcomes. Choking or strangulation, he said, is "very serious behavior and very high risk."

Genova urged neighbors not to wait for physical violence before getting involved. If you observe something disturbing, he said, don't ask "Are you okay?" Ask "Are you safe?" Offer your home as a refuge. And if you're unsure what to do, call SFCS and explain what you saw.

SFCS is available 24 hours a day at 914-723-3281. In an emergency, dial 911.