SAN ANTONIO — This week, Bexar County commissioners approved a three-year study that will evaluate how law enforcement and the courts respond to domestic violence cases.
Thousands of back-logged cases are being worked through—but the county wants to learn how it can improve the process of helping victims.
The county says an outside perspective will give them ideas on how to handle these cases.
In Bexar County many families are impacted, according to Marta Pelaez, president and CEO of Family Violence Prevention Services.
“1 in 3 women will suffer abuse in her life, that is how large the problem is,” Pelaez said.
Families may find themselves waiting for help from the courts.
“It stands to reason, that that system be considered to declare what it is they’re doing right, what it is they’re not doing right,” Pelaez adds.
But the map to getting justice—is complex to some.
Mike Lozito is Director of Bexar County’s Office of Criminal Justice, and has seen the frustration firsthand.
“One of the things that came out of the survey of the victims is that they felt let down by the system,” Lozito said.
The county approved the study by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Courts and the National Center for State Courts to conduct a three-year study of the justice system. The scope of work will include civil cases, protective orders, children and civil divorce in the first year. Law enforcement and criminal courts will be studied in year two, and a strategic plan will be presented in the third year of the plan.
One of the problems within Bexar County is a backlog of domestic violence cases, some dating back to 2016.
In December 2021 more than six thousand family violence cases were pending in Bexar County.
That number dropped to more than 3,200 cases in September 2022.
The county added two impact courts and hired victim advocates and investigators to work for the DA’s office to address the problem. According to county staff, DA Joe Gonzales is supportive of the study.
Lozito hopes this study can offer additional short-term and long-term solutions.
“There may be things that are easy wins to be able to do in the system…and there may be some very long-term projects and resources that have to be placed to get things done right. So, we may have the staffing we may have that, but then there may be other things that need to be added,” Lozito said.
The hope is to cut down on the number of domestic violence victims and stop domestic violence before it turns deadly.
“There’s a lifetime, possibly, of abuse that has occurred before that fatality occurs, that’s also what we’re trying to address,” Pelaez said.
The first year of the study will be funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, totaling $226,149. The total cost of the three year study is $750,000, in which $108,000 is already allotted from the general fund.
According to SAPD, there were 37 family violence murders in 2020, 26 cases in 2021, and 11 have been reported so far in 2022.