Santa Clara Group Suggests County Develop Programs for Domestic Violence Victims, Abusers

By Bay City News Service:

Eleven people died due to domestic violence in Santa Clara County in 2013, up from nine the year before, and the county should develop programs to assist both victims and the perpetrators of abuse, according to a new county report.

 Of the 11 who died, nine were murdered and two died from suicide, including a man who attacked police with a knife to commit "blue suicide," according to the report prepared by the county's Domestic Violence Death Review Committee.

 District Attorney Jeff Rosen, whose office released the committee report, was scheduled to discuss the findings with other domestic violence dignitaries Thursday in San Jose, according to the district attorney's office.

 While two more people died in 2013 from domestic violence than in 2012, the number was far less than the 17 who died in 2011, according to the report.

 The committee, which releases a report annually, examined cases of deaths blamed on incidents of domestic violence reported by 13 different police agencies within the county.

 San Jose, the largest city in the county, reported the most deaths with seven, while Sunnyvale reported two and Gilroy and Morgan Hill one each, according to the committee.

 Of the deaths, seven were the result of stabbings, two by deliberate gunshot, one by blunt force and the one "blue suicide" where police shot the man as he attacked them with a knife after he had killed his wife, committee members said.

 Deputy District Attorney Steve Dick, who chaired the 38-member committee, said the report found that 10 children lost their mothers to domestic violence homicides last year.

 The committee recommended that the county Board of Education address domestic violence and related issues of dating violence and stalking and that schools create an environment "that encourages children and youth to report abuse."

 School officials and the county Board of Supervisors should also develop "state of the art" service programs for perpetrators and potential perpetrators of domestic violence, committee members said.

 Committee members further recommended that county court systems develop measures for safely collecting firearms from perpetrators and city councils protect funding for field officers trained in family violence and secure living facilities for victims and children.


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