The number of homicides in Houston continues to rise each year, and, in many cases, the victims are being killed by someone they know and love.
13 Investigates found that family violence-related homicides nearly doubled during the pandemic. There were 44 domestic violence murders in 2019 and 80 domestic violence murders in 2021.
"Our victims are tremendously traumatized," Lt. Julie Pleasant, who oversees the program, said. "There are scenes they had their doors kicked in, a knife to their throat, they have been shot at or shot, our victims need help." "I just got an update, it was a strangulation, and it's so bad it's hindering her breathing," Pleasant said.While primary officers take care of the arrest, transport the suspect, and clear the scene, DART units solely focus on the victims' needs.
"It's not easy to find emergency shelter in this city, especially when you have a family of 6 children, not including the mother," Lt. Pleasant said. That means you need a whole room in the shelter. I was just at a conference in Galveston where I taught at the national social workers association, and it's a huge problem for everyone nationally, but especially in Houston because we have 2.3 million people here.
She wanted to stay anonymous but told ABC13 she wanted to help other domestic violence victims after learning what we were doing there.
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