In a first for Bexar County, District Attorney Joe Gonzales has made family violence data available online. The two dashboards present the data in different ways. One details incoming family violence and sex assault cases comparing September 2019 to September 2020. Users may sort the cases by offense type, description or method the case was booked. The second dashboard shows the number of misdemeanor and family violence cases pending on March 16, 2020 – when Bexar County COVID-19 orders went into effect eliminating jury trials and limiting courtroom occupancy – and on October 25, 2020.
To view the dashboard, click here.
“In the interest of transparency, we felt it was important for everyone to be able to see the serious increase in domestic violence and child abuse cases our office has received during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cases pending in court have nearly doubled in the last seven months, with more than 4,500 misdemeanor cases being handled by 4 prosecutors and more than 2,600 felony cases for 37 prosecutors. The facts are, my staff cannot continue to handle these cases without additional resources. This is why I plan to ask Bexar County Commissioners to allow us to increase staffing to specifically address the growing backlog of misdemeanor cases we know will need our attention when courts can resume in-person proceedings and jury trials,” Gonzales said.
While the data is not updated daily, it will be updated often. The Bexar County District Attorney’s Office is in the process of developing dashboards to publish data on other divisions and programs.