The amount of deaths related to domestic abuse in Wisconsin has gone down slightly but the group behind the study says the number is still remarkably high. The Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence reports 58 lives were lost in these incidents in 2010, including suicides and law enforcement related killings. Of these 39 were murders compared to 47 in 2009.
WCADV Executive Director Patti Seger says – in the 11 years they’ve been fielding the study – 2010 ranks as the second highest year of such homicides with 2009 being the highest.
Seger says, as far as she’s concerned, one domestic violence related death is too many. Meanwhile nearly a third of all homicides in Wisconsin are domestic violence related.
Milwaukee County Deputy District Attorney Kent Lovern says domestic violence is the most urgent public safety concern in Milwaukee today. Lovern says there were 1,700 referrals from the police stations last year and the number is expected to jump by four times this year.
The WCADV report says victims were from 17 counties across all regions of the state.
