Domestic violence rises in Midlands as other crimes decrease amid coronavirus
On April 20, a man forced his way into a home in Hopkins, where he shot and killed his former girlfriend and her grandmother, according to deputies. The grandmother, who owned the home, had turned 76 years old four days before.
The killings may be the most tragic examples of an increase in domestic violence in the Midlands during the coronavirus pandemic. The Richland County Sheriff’s Department says it responded to 47 domestic violence calls between March 15 and April 20, an increase from 31 calls during the same period in 2019.
Sistercare, whose services include counseling domestic violence victims, says calls for its services have increased 66 percent in April. The services include providing court advocates for victims, and those advocates in Lexington County have been overwhelmed, according to Nancy Barton, executive director of Sistercare.
The organization assists survivors and victims of domestic violence as well as women dealing with housing insecurity and other issues.
From March 22 to April 20, 2020, the Columbia Police Department responded to 63 domestic violence incidents compared to 60 during the same time last year.
People in volatile relationships are now around abusers more frequently because of state orders to be at work or stay at home, according to Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott. Some situations that ordinarily might have been a verbal argument “turn to violent confrontation.”
During March, even with a 24 percent increase in calls compared to last year, the phones at Sistercare’s crisis center were quieter than expected, Barton said.
The changed in April, she said.
Sistercare, which typically works within five counties in the Midlands, started receiving an influx of calls from its service area as well as from farther counties and out of state domestic violence victims who said the organizations in their areas were overwhelmed or unable to help.
The nature of those calls from victims has become increasingly disturbing.
“Our staff answering the crisis line are hearing the abusers in the background more times than we’re accustomed to when the survivor is calling us for services,” Barton said.
Sometimes Sistercare has to ask the victims to call back when it’s safe. Other times a caller hangs up and Sistercare never gets a call back from the person, Barton said.
It’s unsafe for the organization to call back because an abuser may pick up the phone, she said.
Although the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, which serves unincorporated areas of the county, has seen a 52 percent increase in domestic violence calls, two Lexington County police agencies reported slight decreases during March and April.
“When Gov. McMaster’s ‘work or home’ order went into effect, we were prepared for civil disputes, domestic violence and mental health-related calls to be prominent among our calls for service. It has been different for everyone and we know it hasn’t been easy,” Lexington Sheriff Jay Koon said. “We’ve taken steps to respond to those type calls we knew were coming and continue the work we do every day to keep Lexington County safe.”
The Lexington County decreases may be masking the insidiousness of the abuse, Barton said.
Sistercare’s court advocates, who, in part, assist domestic violence victims get restraining orders on abusers, are receiving more calls from women needing help during the pandemic, Barton said. The Lexington County advocates have been overwhelmed recently, she said.
For some victims of domestic violence, reporting the abuse to police “can be significantly more dangerous,” Barton said. Therefore, a lot of domestic violence victims often don’t call police.
She believes this is likely happening in Lexington County.
Abusers often threaten to kill victims and their children and threaten to harm extended family members if victims go to police, she said.
”In very severe cases they are so controlled, it’s hard for them to reach out for help,” Barton said “They’re so psychologically abused they can’t reach out.”
Barton said she frequently tells people “some of the most severe cases of abuse never come to our attention or police.”
She’s concerned that the coronavirus is creating more domestic violence victims than what the number of cases show.
Other major crime during the virus
The rise in domestic violence comes as all other violent crime in Lexington County and Columbia has fallen since the coronavirus restrictions began, according to statistics requested by The State.
Assaults, larcenies and even driving under the influence offenses in the town of Lexington are all down. Larcenies went from 89 incidents last year to 43 this year. Assaults have decreased from 31 to 23. The only type of crime that’s increased are drug-related offenses, but only by a slight amount.
In unincorporated Lexington County, calls to sheriff’s department have slightly increased, from about 7,540 in March and April 2019 to 7,780 in 2020. That increase — about 3 percent — is not statistically significant, according to Capt. Adam Myrick, Lexington County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson.
The Lexington sheriff’s department — like several other law enforcement agencies — has put more deputies on patrol. Those agencies can add more patrols, in part, by transferring school resource officers, who aren’t needed in schools that are now closed.
In Columbia, since the coronavirus-related restrictions were put in place, robberies, auto break-ins, and vehicle thefts are all down more than 40 percent and larcenies have significantly dropped, from 239 to 153 year over year.
In unincorporated Richland County, reductions in crimes such as home burglaries and robberies are balanced by steady occurrences of drug related crimes, shootings and offenses against businesses that aren’t staffed, Lott said.
Crime hasn’t dropped off, but people are noticing it less because of a focus on the coronavirus, Lott said.
Reductions in crime are also being counter-balanced by the enforcement of new laws related to the coronavirus. Having over 100 more deputies on the road has balanced the need to respond to the usual crimes as well as increased coronavirus-related calls such as complaints about gatherings or businesses being open.
While dealing with new laws to fight the coronavirus, Richland County is in the midst of a slew of shootings. Since March 26, Richland County has had six deaths from shootings, including two double homicides, sheriff’s department officials said. One of the double homicides started out as a robbery and the other was the domestic violence incident in Hopkins. Another fatal shooting happened during a drug rip-off, Lott said.
“The criminals have not taken a break at all,” he said. “They’re sure not going to take the advice of a coronavirus lock down.”
To contact Sistercare’s 24 hour domestic violence crisis line call 803-765-9428 or visit www.sistercare.org