COLUMBUS, Ohio — The numbers tell the story.
So far this year, of the city's 128 homicides, 22 of those have been from domestic violence. The year before, that number was seven.
"We've got a crisis,” said Columbus City Attorney, Zach Klein.
With an urgent focus on this issue, Klein announced a new $800,000 federal grant will be used to create a multi-agency task force to implement enforcement of the state's strangulation law.
Since that law took effect in April, Assistant Chief LaShanna Potts said the Columbus Division of Police has handled 126 cases of strangulation.
"We have to prevent strangulation,” said Anthony Pierson, Deputy Chief of the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office. “And this task force will help do that. It will allow for more collaboration between law enforcement and prosecutors on the city and county level to make sure strangulation offenders don't fall through the cracks."
The grant will allow for the task force to hire a coordinator from the Columbus Division of Police, hire one full-time and one part-time victim advocate and fund additional training.
"Both trauma-informed care which we know is so critical across many aspects across the criminal justice system and additional training to identify the strangulation cases,” explained Klein.
"Anytime we can collaborate with the city on work through the state and federal government in dollars that we can help secure through there is always beneficial. It's always great stuff and so the city and the county work well together and this is another great example of that,” said John O'Grady, Franklin County commissioner.
Klein is also asking judges in Franklin County to set bonds for these cases at $500,000. He said since he first made that call for action in May, one judge has done so.
There are resources to help people escape the cycle of abuse. LSS CHOICES is the only domestic violence shelter in Franklin County.
This month it is launching a new campaign called – Love Shouldn't Hurt. Their crisis hotline is open 24 hours.
If you are in need of domestic violence services, call their 24/7 crisis hotline at 614-224-4663. For non-crisis or general matters call their business line at 614-224-7200.