QUEENS — The number of domestic violence-related homicides in the city fell by nearly 20 percent in 2013, compared with a year earlier, according to a report released by the city Monday.
In 2013, there were 62 family-related homicides in the city, according the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence, which used information provided by the police.
A year earlier, the city recorded 76 domestic violence-related murders.
At the same time, more people reported non-fatal incidents of domestic violence. In 2013, police responded to 284,660 domestic violence incidents, about 20,000 more than in 2012.
“We are encouraged by the report’s finding that family-related homicides declined, but this cannot overshadow the significant impact domestic violence is having on families across the city,” said Rosemonde Pierre-Louis, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence, in a statement.
Ed Hill, senior advisor at the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence, attributed the change to numerous initiatives deployed by the city to address domestic violence.
In recent months, the agency started doing outreach at transit hubs. It also began distributing information at nail salons and dropping leaflets into grocery bags in the most affected neighborhoods.
Since 2005, the city also opened four family justice centers, which help victims find a place to stay and provide them with legal assistance and emotional support, he said.
Hill called the increase in the reporting of non-fatal domestic violence incidents "a positive thing."
Usually, he said, “domestic violence is underreported and part of our outreach efforts is to get people to reach out for help."
"We expect that number to go up," he noted.
The report also took a look at domestic violence-related homicides over the past decades.
According to statistics, from 2002 to 2013 there were 851 such murders in the city.
Data show that many of them had been concentrated in certain areas, the report said.
According to Hill, neighborhoods most affected by domestic violence often struggle with high rates of poverty and low high school graduation rates.
"One of the key factors is unemployment," he noted. "If an abuser suddenly becomes unemployed, it raises the risk of homicide."
Since 2004, 42 percent of domestic violence homicides occurred in those neighborhoods most affected by poverty and unemployment.
The report also found that black families were disproportionately affected by domestic violence. Some 49 percent (415 out of 851) of family-related homicide victims were black, even though only 23 percent of the city’s population is black.
Between 2002 and 2013, the 73rd Precinct in Brooklyn, which covers Brownsville, recorded 36 domestic violence murders. In The Bronx, the 43rd Precinct, which includes the southeast section of the borough, had 31 domestic violence homicides.
The 103rd Precinct in Jamaica, Queens, and the 120th Precinct in the northern portion of Staten Island recorded 20 such murders each.
In total, Brooklyn and the Bronx had the highest number of domestic violence homicides. Out of the 851 cases, 306 (36 percent) took place in Brooklyn; 212 (25 percent) were committed in The Bronx.
About 21 percent of domestic violence-related homicides — 181 — took place in Manhattan, 13 percent (114 incidents) in Queens and 4 percent (38 murders) in Staten Island.
The report also found that less than one-third of the victims had contact with police before their death.
