By Staff Reporter |
Unmarried couples lead significantly more in the occurrences of domestic violence incidents in Phoenix, and guns were least used overall.
New data from the city of Phoenix’s annual Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team (DVFRT) showed that there were nearly 5,700 domestic violence victims that were the boyfriend or girlfriend out of over 11,100 total reported victims in 2023 — nearly 51 percent.
Comparatively there were just over 1,500 domestic victims that were the spouse, over 1,200 victims that were the parent or step-parent, over 900 victims that were the sibling or step-sibling, over 800 victims that were the child or step-child, over 600 victims that were the former spouse, over 100 victims that were the in-law, about 80 victims that were the grandparent, and over 50 victims that were the grandchild.
Although unmarried couples were the leading source of domestic violence occurrences, the DVFRT selected the near-fatality incident of a married heterosexual couple to make the focus of their Case Review Subcommittee assessment.
The case study did share some of the characteristics common among the other domestic violence incidents: past criminal history and alcohol use. Based on that case study, DVFRT recommended greater involvement of the fire department’s Crisis Response Teams, more medical follow-ups with victims, more trainings for EMTs on strangulation when the victim refuses transportation to a medical facility, amending reporting methods to make “strangulation” a separate category when accounting for use of force, and more frequent follow-ups by victim services case management.
Further on in the report, it was revealed that firearms were far from the first choice for perpetrators. In over 6,500 of the reported cases, perpetrators used their body parts (hands, fists, or feet) to assault their victim. These body part calculations included strangulations.
In over 1,200 incidents, the weapon of choice was categorized as “other.” Knives ranked the third most popular: nearly 700 incidents were reported with knives as the perpetrator’s weapon. Handguns and rifles or shotguns came in last: just over 500 incidents involved a handgun, and less than 50 used a rifle or shotgun.
An overwhelming majority of domestic violence incidents were assaults and aggravated assaults (nearly 13,000 incidents), with criminal damages coming in third (over 4,400 incidents), and an order of protection violation coming in fourth (over 2,800 incidents).
In over 2,200 incidents, the perpetrator was under the influence of alcohol; in over 600 incidents, the perpetrator was under the influence of a drug or narcotic. That accounts for over 25 percent of all reported incidents.
The DVFRT report stated that police responded to over 33,700 calls for domestic violence. Of those calls, over 23,100 resulted in incident reports, over 8,500 adults were arrested, and over 400 juveniles were “contacted.” Out of those arrests, nearly 2,800 were for aggravated assault and over 260 were for aggravated domestic violence, which concerns individuals convicted of three or more acts of domestic violence over a seven-year period.
DVFRT is overseen by leaders of the city’s Family Advocacy Center and Phoenix Police Department, with members from the city’s Human Services Department, Arizona State University, Maricopa Association of Governments, Phoenix Fire Department, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, the city’s Prosecutor’s Office, Department of Economic Security, the organizations A New Leaf and La Frontera Empact, and Honor Health.
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