Second Deadliest Year—So Far—For Domestic Violence Since 2014
KCPD Cruiser Responding To Domestic Violence Call
This year Kansas City Police officers filed more than 4,000 incident reports related to domestic violence assaults through October 20.


WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2025

Twelve homicides linked to domestic violence were committed in Kansas City within the first 100 days of 2025, quickly—tragically—matching the total for all of 2024. That number has since climbed to 19 lives lost.

With 70 days to go until New Year’s, 2025 is already the city’s second deadliest year for domestic violence since 2014.

A Domestic Violence Assault Every 87 Minutes

Another grim stat to consider as Domestic Awareness Month winds down: KCPD officers reported 3,482 assaults and 1,040 aggravated assaults involving domestic violence from January 1 through October 20—a combined average of one every 87 minutes. Crime analysts for COMBAT and the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office pulled this data from 10,093 assault/aggravated assault incident reports filed by the KCPD.

These figures, which include incidents in KCPD’s jurisdiction within Jackson, Clay and Platte counties, confirmed what we in COMBAT have long heard anecdotally from our commuter partners: domestic violence is an epidemic.

“We can’t effectively address what we refuse to acknowledge,” COMBAT Director Murray Woodard said. “Domestic violence isn’t a private matter—it’s a public crisis. The more we raise awareness and connect people to help, the more lives we can save.”

Help: Just A Call Away

Kansas City Metro-Wide
816-HOTLINE (816-468-5463)

Newhouse Crisis Hotline
816-471-5800

Rose Brooks Center
816-861-6100

Hope House
816-46104673

Synergy Services
888-233-1637

Mattie Rhodes Center
816-241-3780

“We never are closed for a holiday or weather or anything like that, because domestic violence never takes a break.”

COMBAT Funding A Dozen Programs

COMBAT currently funds a dozen different programs that have a primary or secondary focus on domestic violence.

One grant supports attempts by Newhouse, an emergency shelter in Kansas City, to expand its 24/7 hotline services—what can be a critical lifeline for those seeking urgent help. A year ago, Newhouse’s hotline staff fielded about 26 calls per day.

Three months ago, that average had surged to 43 calls a day. Newhouse President & CEO Courtney Thomas told The Kansas City Star in July her agency’s shelter was “at capacity every day.”

COMBAT prevention funding also supports the Rose Brooks Center’s Project SAFE initiative, which seeks to break the cycle of violence through workshops for students—from pre-K through high school—in 11 schools across the Kansas City, Center and Grandview C-4 school districts. Project SAFE focuses on early intervention, conflict resolution and developing positive social skills.

Meanwhile, Hope House has—with COMBAT funding—been able to embed an advocate who works alongside Independence Police officers, when they respond to domestic violence calls. The advocate assures survivors immediately receive crisis intervention, resource referrals and ongoing assistance. (Hope House operates six domestic violence shelters.)

816-HOTLINE

While each has their own crisis lines, Newhouse, Rose Brooks and Hope House are among the domestic violence agencies that share the responsibility for answering KC’s metro-wide 816-HOTLINE (816-468-5463). They assure the HOTLINE number is answered 24/7 to provide information about emergency shelters, other housing options, medical assistance, financial aid and counseling services.

“Each shelter takes a day of the week that they answer the community hotline,” Thomas told The Star this summer. “Those phones are staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We never are closed for a holiday or weather or anything like that, because domestic violence never takes a break.”

30% Increase In Prosecutions

Holding domestic violence offenders accountable has been among Melesa Johnson’s top priorities as Jackson County Prosecutor. Last week, she launched another interactive dashboard to track the domestic violence cases her office has filed. The data indicates a nearly 30% increase in cases filed this year compared to 2024.

“What this means is that more domestic abusers are being held accountable and more survivors are receiving the healing and justice they deserve,” Prosecutor Johnson said.

12 Million Victims

24 People EVERY MINUTE

Kansas City is not alone.

•  According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, on average, 24 people in the United States are victims of rape, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner—EVERY MINUTE. That is 12 million women and men across the nation over the course of year.

SOURCE: hotline.org

• Through the end of July, 15 deaths attributed to domestic abuse were reported in Nebraska—two more across the entire state, after just seven months, than in all of 2024. Nebraska created a state-wide Domestic Abuse Death Review Team after victims’ families urged the state legislators to collect more data about domestic violence. 

This review team will soon, according to Nebraska Public Media, select two sites to implement a pilot program “to train law enforcement to conduct so-called lethality assessments to identify domestic violence victims at the highest risks of being seriously injured or killed by their partner.” The Lethality Assessment features 11-questions to identify known risk factors, such as escalating violence and controlling behavior.

SOURCE: Nebraska Public Media • August 15, 2025

• Iowa has, likewise, seen a sharp increase in domestic violence homicides—a 52% increase over the last three years, according to the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Of the 88 Iowa lives lost, between 2022 and 2024, 16 of the victims were 5 years old or younger.

SOURCE: WHO 13 Des Moines • October 10, 2025

Domestic Violence Assault and Homicide Percentages of all assaults and homicides
Assault and aggravated assault figures are on data COMBAT and Jackson Prosecutor crime analysts extracted from Kansas Police Department incident reports. Homicide numbers are from on the KCPD's Daily Homicide Analysis dated October 21.

The release of the Prosecutor’s dashboard follows a January letter Johnson sent to all law enforcement agencies and municipal prosecutors directing them to send domestic violence cases involving serious injuries (e.g. broken bones, stitches, strangulation, kidnapping, weapons, patterns of stalking) to her office for charges. Previously, 90% of domestic violence cases were handled municipally with the maximum punishment being less than a year in municipal jail. 

“Breaking the cycle of violence requires both consequences for offenders and a real desire for change,” Johnson stressed.

Focus On Survivors

Most of the $767,900 COMBAT has allotted for domestic violence programs this year goes toward prevention and to support services for survivors. The $35,053 grant for Newhouse, alone, is projected to help severe 11,000 people in Jackson County in 2025.

“Home should be a place of safety, not fear,” Woodard said. “Yet for too many, it’s where trauma begins. COMBAT is committed to restoring safety and dignity for survivors, holding abusers accountable and helping families restore peace.”

“Home should be a place of safety, not fear.”