Westchester County conference focuses on strengthening domestic violence response and collaboration

The conference welcomed 34 police department liaisons from municipalities across the county. They had the opportunity to hear from county officials who provided real-time statistics, resources, and more. The goal is to equip officers responding to domestic violence incidents with the best practices to keep victims safe and to connect said victims with the resources they need, especially as the number of high-risk individuals has gradually increased from 2022 to 2025, according to county officials. As of this morning, we are just under 2,000 high-risk cases countywide, which is about where we were at the end of last year. Ryan says he believes the reason for the increase is that more victims feel comfortable coming forward. This year's keynote speaker was Joseph Petito, the father of Gabby Petito, the Long Island woman who was killed by her fiancé in 2021. Learning that and trying to do better and understanding from different perspectives is hugely important. Catherine Borgia with the Westchester County Office for Women says the key to stopping domestic violence is collaboration. Several years ago, the county started the domestic violence high risk team and that was a way to really bring police officers together to do the lethality assessment protocol and to make sure that people knew what to look for in DV calls and also how to get people out of dangerous situations. Essential tools and support are available 24-7 through the National Domestic Violence Hotline. That number is at the bottom of your screen. I'm in Eastchester, Westchester County, Lauren DelVal, News 12.