Oprah’s podcast reaches tens of millions of people. Many of them will hear Snyder’s words and recognize someone they love. Some of them will see themselves. We want those people to know help exists, and it is closer than they may think.
National conversations are powerful, but change is local. It happens in the decisions judges make in court. It happens in how a law enforcement officer is trained to ask the right questions at a doorstep at midnight. It happens when a survivor is connected to an advocate immediately rather than navigating a complex system alone.
For too long, we have treated domestic violence homicide as a tragedy we could not have seen coming. We grieve. We hold vigils. We ask what warning signs were missed. And we discover repeatedly that before a person was killed, some had contact with law enforcement, courts, advocates and healthcare providers — all supportive experts who may have had a chance to connect the dots if their systems worked in a more coordinated way.
The truth is painful, but it is also hopeful: Many domestic violence homicides are not random. They are often preceded by warning signs: threats to kill, strangulation, stalking, access to firearms and violence that escalates after a victim tries to leave. When communities are trained to recognize those signs and respond together, outcomes can change.
The CCDV was formed in 2019 to improve domestic violence prevention, intervention and support systems. Since that time, CCDV members have implemented a multitude of evidence-based strategies to improve services and coordination across these systems. We highlight two of these strategies here.
With support from the Geiger Institute, which works with communities to end domestic violence, our community began implementing tools to better identify high-risk cases and respond before violence escalates to homicide.
Officers with the San Antonio Police Department are trained to use an 11-question danger assessment to identify victims at elevated risk and connect them quickly to advocacy and support. Bexar County, the city of San Antonio and Family Violence Prevention Services also coordinate across local jurisdictions — law enforcement, advocates, prosecutors, courts, healthcare providers and others — to come together as a team to review the most dangerous cases, share information and coordinate a response.
Survivors have told us they felt believed sooner and that safety planning felt more meaningful because the people around the table truly understood the risk.
The CCDV members and our community are proud to be part of a growing national movement that believes the worst outcomes of domestic violence are not inevitable. They are predictable. They are preventable. And they demand a coordinated response.
Monique Diaz presides over the 150th District Court. María Villagómez is San Antonio’s deputy city manager.