Jefferson County District Attorney Receives Award to Create Domestic Violence Unit and Fatality Review Board

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) awarded  the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office (Birmingham Division)  $339,574 through BJA’s FY 2021 Innovative Prosecution Solutions grant to increase the response of law enforcement and prosecutors to domestic violence, and to enhance domestic violence prevention efforts in Jefferson County. The District Attorney’s Office will create a specialized domestic violence unit that prioritizes the investigation and prosecution of domestic violence offenses and builds upon its existing victim support and violence prevention partnership with One Place Alabama Metro Family Justice Center, as well as the federal and local collaborative Jefferson County Domestic Violence Firearms Technical Assistance Project.

“Local crime data shows that domestic violence offenders commit most of the homicides in Jefferson County. My office already prioritizes the protection of domestic violence victims, and these new resources will increase our ability to investigate and prosecute domestic violence offenders”, said District Attorney Danny Carr. “Further, the creation of a local domestic violence fatality review board will guide systems improvements by my office, law enforcement, and victim service providers when our best efforts and practices fail to protect victims. Learning and adapting systems of care and protection for victims is essential to innovative public safety practices.”

“Domestic violence is a leading driver of violence in Jefferson County and across Alabama. The United States Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners are increasing our collective response to the persistent threat that domestic violence offenders bring to their victims and our community”, said U.S. Attorney Prim Escalona. “The Jefferson County District Attorney is one of our leading partners to improve protections for victims and to aggressively pursue domestic violence offenders. We are pleased that the Bureau of Justice Assistance is providing our partners with additional resources to further our efforts to reduce crime and victimization in Jefferson County.”

Preliminary data for 2021 indicates that fifty-seven percent of homicides in Jefferson County were committed by domestic violence offenders, while 53% and 58% of homicide offenders in 2020 and 2019 respectively were domestic violence offenders. Annually, more than 14,000 calls for service are made to local law enforcement in response to domestic violence. For mass shootings of four or more people between 2014 – 2019, 68% of perpetrators had a prior history of domestic violence.