City, state focus on combating rise in domestic violence

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- For the second year in a row, the Columbus Division of Police has reported an increase in felony domestic violence incidents in the city. 

This trend has city and police leaders making combating this problem a focus in 2025, but they say this is something police cannot solve themselves while advocates against domestic violence say the problem needs to be talked about.  

According to Columbus police, there were more than 800 felony domestic violence incidents in the city last year.  

Advocates said this is scary because incidents and fatalities go hand in hand while Columbus Police are investigating what they believe to be the first domestic violence related homicide of the year only seven days into 2025.  

Gage Smith, 28, was arrested and charged for shooting and killing his 32-year-old girlfriend in the city’s University District on Tuesday.   

At a new conference on the city’s 2024 crime data Tuesday, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther addressed the rise in domestic violence incidents. 

“The spike in domestic violence homicides cannot be solved by the Division of Police,” Ginther said. “That's a place where the rest of the community needs to step up and provide resources and support.” 

Ginther and police leaders expressed concern about the continued rise in domestic violence in Columbus.  

Maria York, policy director with the Ohio Domestic Violence Network, said she is concerned as well.  

“The increased calls for services for domestic violence and fatal incidents seems to be very correlated,” she said. “Looking from July 1, 2024, to about mid-November 2024 is what we have captured so far, 26 percent of all of our fatalities are in Franklin County.” 

She said the statewide organization is in need of more funding.  

“Ohio, as a state, is severely underfunded,” York said. “And looking at even Kentucky, the state below us, in their per capita rate, they invest $3.06 for every person in domestic violence services. And Ohio, in comparison, invests $0.85 in our per capita rate, so we are seeing, I feel like we're seeing the result of being severely underfunded in combating domestic violence.”  

York said that Franklin County recently started a new program called The Blueprint for Safety. She said cities like Cleveland and Cincinnati started similar programs years ago.  

“We're now seeing the numbers, our fatality numbers in those high metro areas,” she said. “They're not as high as Franklin County, so we're thinking that this is working. Having this coordinated community response model is reducing the number of homicides in the Cleveland, Cincinnati and other metro areas, so our hope is that as Franklin County is developing this and pushing this and bringing the community members together, we can see that same result here in Columbus.” 

York said even with a lack of funding and resources, the network will never turn people in need away, but one thing people can do is speak up.  

“We need to speak publicly about this,” York said. "We need people to be invested in this issue and to actively look for solutions to reduce the incidents and the fatalities.”   

York encourages anyone who feels passionate and would like to help to reach out to domestic violence advocates to see what they can do to help. Ginther said he has also asked the city’s office of violence prevention to develop a plan for the city to implement to address the problem head on; more on those plans will be released later this year. 

There are dozens of domestic violence resources across Ohio. Some of those include: 

• Ohio Domestic Violence Network 
• Center for Family Safety and Healing 
• Lutheran Social Services of Central Ohio 
• United Way of Central Ohio 
• City Attorney's Office - City of Columbus 
• CAP4Kids 

For a list of domestic violence resources, click here.