Domestic violence reports spike in Dallas
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Dallas police say they have noticed a spike in family violence cases across the city this year in comparison to last year.
Why it matters: More than 10 million people nationwide are affected by relationship abuse every year, per National Domestic Violence Hotline CEO Katie Ray-Jones.
- October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
By the numbers: Dallas police received 10,537 reports of domestic violence between January and Sept. 30 this year, compared to 10,046 during the same period last year.
- Murder cases, aggravated assaults and sex offenses tied to allegations of family violence have declined, but simple assault, kidnapping and intimidation cases have increased, per a police presentation yesterday at the Dallas City Council's Public Safety Committee.
- Dallas police say 102 of this year's cases through Sept. 30 involved allegations of strangulation and losing consciousness. 839 cases involved allegations of strangulation where the person did not lose consciousness.
What they're saying: Fear plays a big role in victims' hesitation to report family violence to police, Dallas police Major Phyllis Nobles told the committee yesterday.
- "Fear of losing their children, fear of relocating their children to different schools, fear of losing financial stability, and fear of losing everything that they have," Nobles said.
What they're doing: Dallas police officers conduct lethality assessments in family violence cases to identify individuals who may be at the highest risk of being killed by an intimate partner.
- If someone is determined to be at high risk and agrees to receiving extra help, they are connected to advocates and additional resources such as housing at local shelters and time with a mental health counselor.
- The city updated the form last year to make strangulation cases an automatic trigger for extra support.
Reality check: While Dallas police regularly make arrests in domestic violence cases, the domestic violence unit still has hundreds of outstanding warrants.
The bottom line: "If it's happening in one generation, it probably happened in the generation before, and it will probably happen in the generation hence if it's not disrupted," Council Member Gay Donnell Willis, who chairs the public safety committee, said at yesterday's meeting.