R i s e i n v i o l e n c e no t s ub s i d i ng Family violence incidents in Montgomery County have yet to fall to pre-pandemic levels, according to local law enforcement agencies.
associated with the pandemic,” Boyles said. Boyles said family violence reports also may have escalated with sur- vivors having greater access to vir- tual resources. This access includes a 750% increase in available virtual services from 2019-20. Because local and county incidents have not fallen to pre-pandemic numbers, area women’s centers con- tinue to juggle the demand in ser- vices as well. Underreported incidents Willis reported a 47.76% increase in family violence cases from 2019- 21, rising from 67 cases reported annually to 99 cases, Nowak said. Similarly, Conroe reported a 27.13% increase from 2019-21, going from 446 reports annually to 567, according to data from the city. The Conroe Police Department declined to comment on the data. On the contrary, the city of Mont- gomery saw cases decrease from 16 in 2019 to 10 in 2020 and 2021, according to the DPS database. The Montgomery Police Department did not respond to requests for comment by press time. Despite increased reports by some entities, experts said cases are underreported. According to a criminal victimization survey released by the U.S. Department of Justice in October, 52% of victims of domestic violence reported the crime to police in 2019. In 2020, 41% of vic- tims reported the crime. “Some people just don’t report what could be classified as family vio- lence,” Nowak said. “The victim may not think that a crime occurred, or if he or she does, doesn’t want to get the offender in trouble.” While Texas officers are required to file a report for all family violence incidents, the largest issue when determining the accurate number of
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County, the number of filed domestic violence-related cases increased an average of 20% each month starting in March 2020 from the previous year. The rise in cases remained at a steady rate through 2021, with some months reaching as high as a 50% increase. “Last year in 2021, after Montgom- ery County wasn’t locked down any- more and we were trying to get back to normal, … I went and pulled all the stats again and went through all of the stats,” Hutson said. “And we had the same 20% increase all the way through 2021.” Family violence reports have fluc- tuated among municipalities in north Montgomery County with the cities of Conroe and Willis seeing a steady increase from 2019-21 while the city of Montgomery saw numbers drop during the pandemic, according to the Conroe Police Department and the Texas Department of Public Safe- ty’s Uniform Crime Reporting system. Willis Police Chief James Nowak said in an email he believes the pandemic has led to an increase of family violence cases statewide because of people being home more due to lost jobs, reduced hours or remote work. While family violence crimes often go underreported, calls to hotlines have increased during the pandemic, according to Molly Boyles, director of public policy for the Texas Council on Family Violence—a nonprofit coali- tion that aims to prevent and respond to family violence. Boyles said cases could be under- reported because survivors could be calling places other than law enforce- ment—such as shelters or hotlines— for help or staying home longer during the pandemic. “Survivors were forced to prob- ably stay in their home a bit longer, partially due to the health concerns
A call for help
The number of hotline calls to the Montgomery County Women’s Center is higher than the number of the family violence incidents reported each year. Family violence incidents reported to Montgomery County law enforcement*
MCWC hotline calls
65,011
10K 0 20K 30K 40K 50K 60K 70K
53,110
49,618
3,169
3,156
2,961
2019
2020
2021
*10 OF 13 AGENCIES REPORTING
SOURCES: MONTGOMERY COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY/ COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Although rates of family violence have remained high countywide since March 2020, the city of Montgomery saw decreases in reports. Willis and Conroe had high increases during the pandemic like most of Montgomery County. Higher rates reported countywide
Conroe
Montgomery
Willis
67
2019 2020 2021 2019 2020 2021 2019 2020 2021
47.76%
69
increase in family violence reports from 2019-2021
99
27.13%
446
increase from 2019-2021
531
567
16
37.5%
decrease from 2019-2021
10 10
SOURCES: WILLIS POLICE CHIEF JAMES NOWAK, CITY OF CONROE, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY UNIFORM CRIME REPORTING SYSTEM/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
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