Rise in violence not subsiding Family violence incidents in Montgomery County have yet to fall to pre-pandemic levels, according to local law enforcement agencies.
“[Domestic violence] is different because you’re in a relationship with somebody,” Gorden said. “It’s not like some stranger is assaulting you and you can call the police and your prob- lem gets solved.” Underreported incidents 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. Ling Ren is a professor and grad- uate program director at the Sam Houston State University Depart- ment of Criminal Justice and Crim- inology, specializing in a variety of topics, including domestic violence prosecution. She said there are sev- eral reasons for underreporting. “It is well documented in the lit-
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Echo Hutson, chief prosecutor of the Domestic Violence Division at the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, said in Mont- gomery 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,” Hutson said. “And we had the same 20% increase all the way through 2021.” Family violence reports filed in The Woodlands Township increased 33%
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*
A call for help
MCWC hotline calls
65,011
70K
60K
53,110
erature that many victims of [fam- ily violence] do not make crim- inal complaints or call the police due to a variety of concerns,” Ren said in an email to Community Impact Newspaper. “I believe during COVID[-19], the unde r r e po r t i ng problem was exac-
from 2019 to 2020, and an additional 15% from 2020 to 2021. In 2021, fam- ily violence reports made up nearly 8% of all reports filed by law enforcement in The Woodlands, and more than half of all reported assaults were fam- ily assaults. According to Tim Holifield, captain
49,618
50K
“[DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IS] SO PREVALENT. IT’S EVERYWHERE— BUT IT’S BEHIND CLOSED DOORS.” ECHO HUTSON, CHIEF PROSECUTOR OF THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DIVISION AT THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
40K
30K
20K
10K
3,169
3,156
2,961
0
2019
2020
2021
*10 of 13 agencies reporting
SOURCES: MONTGOMERY COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY/ COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER Although officials say it is underreported, family violence reports increased in 2020 in The Woodlands, Shenandoah and Oak Ridge North. The Woodlands and Shenandoah saw an additional increase in family violence from 2020 to 2021. Higher rates reported
erbated by social isolation, stay- home orders, illnesses and increased substance abuse.” Ren said national estimates of underreporting may be determined by comparing national incident reports with self-reported victim sur- veys. However, Ren said there are no regional or jurisdictional variations. “There are also disagreements [and] debates among academia about the methods that were used to estimate the dark figure in fam- ily violence, so it is a big swamp,” Ren said, referring to underreported crime figures. While Texas officers are required to file a report for all family violence incidents, the largest issue when determining the accurate number of assaults is that victims often do not make themselves known or report every incident to law enforcement, according to Hutson. “Seventy-eight percent of the calls [to law enforcement] come from people who are not the victim. They come from family, neighbors, friends, coworkers,” Hutson said. “When
of the Montgomery County Sher- iff’s Office South Patrol Division, the township also saw an additional increase in family violence reports from 2020 to 2021. “We actually have a slight increase on family violence over 2020, which was a little bit of an increase [over 2019],” Holifield said during a town- shipboardof directorsmeeting Jan. 26. “Sometimes things get boiled over into arguments and even some that result in domestic violence and battery.” Shenandoah and Oak Ridge North, cities which each have a population of roughly 3,000, both saw an increase in reports filed from 2019 to 2021, according to data from the cities’ police departments. Despite the rise in reports, officials say they anticipate family violence is still heavily under- reported in the area. Joel Gorden, sergeant detective with the Shenandoah Police Depart- ment, said a variety of factors dis- courage victims from reporting family violence such as financial implica- tions, manipulation, fear of home- lessness and fear of violence.
Family violence reports per 1,000 people 0 2 4
6
8
10
1.8
2019
2.4
2020
2.7
2021
5.7
2019
6.9
2020
8.7
2021
0.7
2019
*The Shenandoah Police Department attributes the higher case count ratio to the 13 hotels in the city.
1.6
2020
1
2021
SOURCES: OAK RIDGE NORTH POLICE DEPARTMENT, SHENANDOAH POLICE DEPARTMENT, THE WOODLANDS TOWNSHIP/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
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COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
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