District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and other city officials celebrated the start of Domestic Violence Awareness Month on Tuesday with an education and awareness event downtown.
College students, law enforcement, social service agencies and community members, led by Dumanis, San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman and San Diego Domestic Violence Council President Jessica Yaffa, gathered at the San Diego Central Library downtown for the event to celebrate the 2016 HOPE Awardees.
Students also held signs with messages of encouragement and hope while speakers read the names of the 18 victims of domestic-violence related homicide in San Diego County in 2015.
The victim count is according to the San Diego Association of Governments’ (SANDAG) Criminal Justice Research Division, which also said that 17,975 domestic violence incidents were reported to county law enforcement throughout all of 2015.
The mark set in 2015 is up 6 percent from 2014, and is a 12 percent increase from what the region saw in 2011.
Of the 18 homicide victims, two were killed during domestic violence disputes involving members of their family. Eight domestic violence offenders died in 2015 as a result of suicide.
Also in attendance were City Attorney Jan Goldsmith, Director of the County Health and Human Service Agency Nick Macchione and Sheriff William D. Gore.
