SAN ANTONIO — A program created to address domestic violence in Bexar County says its making progress.
The Collaborative Commission on Domestic Violence was formed in 2019 in response to the county having the highest rates of domestic violence in the state.
The commission’s goal is to provide an array of services to victims.
Deputy city manager Maria Villagomez says the commission has led to a victim-centered approach that wasn’t there before.
“Providing them with safety plans, doing a lethality assessment, looking at the risk they’re facing, and be able to connect them to services as quickly as we can,” Villagomez said.
The commission says victims of domestic violence have been connected with crisis support services last year.
Judge Monique Diaz of the 150th Civil District Court shares how things change once a case reaches the courts.
“From the justice systems perspective, before the CCDV was founded, we didn’t have a process whereby judges could order a respondent or defendant to turn over their firearms that were prohibited from possessing those firearms in the first place,” Judge Diaz says 536 orders have been issued by judges in the past year.
Police Chief William McManus says the commission has guided officers to be compassionate.
“It gives the victims a level of confidence they may not have had before. That spreads by word of mouth to other victims, hopefully prompting them and giving them the confidence to call,” Chief McManus said.
Another statistic in the report shows the District Attorney’s protective order division filed 1,372 protective order petitions, compared to around 300 in 2018.
But just because a protective order is filed, Chief McManus says officers can’t be comfortable because an order is filed.
“I’ve seen many a victim killed that has a protective order. And with the lethality assessments and a safety plans, I think we’ve compensated for that, and victims now are protected further than having just a piece of paper,” Chief McManus said.
Judge Diaz says the goal of the fourth year for the commission including the voices of those impacted by domestic violence, not just the victims but the offenders and families impacted.
Another focus is to educate the community on domestic violence prevention and teaching what healthy relationships look like.