Vice President Biden, Atty. General Holder Announce Grants To Cut Domestic Violence Homicides

March 15, 2013 — Vice President Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday announced $2.3 million in Department of Justice grants to help local jurisdictions reduce homicides linked to domestic violence, the Baltimore Sun reports (Fritze, Baltimore Sun, 3/13).

The Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention Demonstration Initiative aims to help law enforcement officers and health care personnel identify women who might be at risk of being murdered by recognizing certain predictive behaviors by their partners, such as sexual assault and attempted strangulation (Turque, Washington Post, 3/13). The grants also will support programs that assist victims and track high-risk offenders (Lederman, AP/Sacramento Bee, 3/13).

Grants of about $200,000 each will be awarded to counties in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Vermont.

The federal initiative is modeled after the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence, which is linked to a one-third reduction in domestic violence homicides in the state, officials said. Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) and Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) joined Biden and Holder at the news conference (Baltimore Sun, 3/13).