Report shows response to Domestic Violence in Dallas

The first annual summary report of the City of Dallas’ Domestic Violence Taskforce provides a snapshot of the response to domestic violence in Dallas and will serve as a benchmark for the city to measure its progress each year in serving victims. The report was written by faculty in UT Dallas’ Institute for Urban Policy Research (IUPR).

The report includes data from between June of 2014 and May of 2015 from law enforcement, the courts, city and county prosecutors’ offices and shelter services and support organizations. The Dallas Police Department responded to more than 11,000 domestic violence-related calls and the county recorded 10 intimate partner homicides from June 2014 to May 2015. This public health and safety issue remains a top priority for Mayor Rawlings.

“I have long felt that we will not be able to accomplish our goal of eradicating domestic violence in our city unless we develop a statistical dashboard to hold all stakeholders accountable,” Rawlings said. “This report, and the statistical snapshot that it provides, is a key milestone because it is the first step toward making a comprehensive dashboard a reality,” City of Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings says.

The report highlights the work of Dr. Denise Paquette Boots, associate professor of criminology at UT Dallas and senior research fellow with the Institute for Urban Policy Research (IUPR). Boots worked for over 18 months to capture metrics from key partners that provide a portrait of the systemic response to domestic violence in Dallas.

The report was written by task force member Dr. Boots and Dr. Timothy Bray, clinical professor of criminology at UT Dallas and director of IUPR. “This first annual summary report for the Dallas Domestic Violence Taskforce is an important step in gauging our community’s response to domestic violence. This report ushers in a new era of open cooperation between our partners across the public and private sectors in tackling this critical social issue,” Boots said.

The report will be released as part of a commemoration of the Institute’s 10th anniversary and a welcome event for the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership conference, which begins in Dallas on Oct. 21. The UT Dallas institute is a member of the partnership and collects data on indicators including crime and safety to provide information for policy making and community building.

“Projects like the DV Taskforce annual report represent an opportunity for the University community to provide support and expertise to help fight pressing social problems that impact the health of our community,” Bray said. “This ideal has been the primary focus of IUPR since our inception over 10 years ago. This event will bring together a host of elected officials, non-profit and civic leaders and researchers who share a common interest in improving the quality of life of our families and neighborhoods in Dallas.”