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According to HPD 52 people were killed in Houston last year by a spouse or relative. So far this year 39 people have died in domestic violence cases. HPD says they’ve been taking part in events this month to make people more aware of domestic violence, especially the need for people to come forward when they know it’s happening in the home. This is Captain Craig Goralski.
“The community in general needs to step forward if they know of victims of domestic violence to come forward to report those crimes to the police department to reach out and try and help those individuals.”
The officers know sometimes they can follow all the right steps, like make the arrest and put the offender behind bars, and the abuse will continue down the road because the victim doesn’t have the courage to leave the relationship. That decision can sometimes end in tragedy. This is Melissa Holbrook who helps train police officers on this issue.
“Once we do make an arrest and the offender goes to jail, they may bond down and they may be back out again, so we need the support services to help that person be able to leave that relationship, not once or twice, but permanently.”
HPD says it will continue to partner with community groups to give victims the strength to leave the abusive relationship before the violence escalates.