‘We’ll help you make that situation better’: Amarillo police share on dealings with rise of domestic violence

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - Experts say that since they saw an uptick in gun violence back in 2019, not only has it continued to rise, but they saw an uptick in domestic violence as well.

“One of our primary objectives in dealing with domestic violence is holding offenders accountable, whether it’s involving a firearm or not. We very aggressively pursue investigations to determine who the offender is and to hold them accountable and send them for prosecution anytime and domestic violence type offense occurs,” says Martin Birkenfeld, Chief of Police, Amarillo Police Department.

The Amarillo Police Department says they see several thousand cases of domestic violence each year.

Chief Birkenfeld says, “Every day, just about every shift that we work, officers encounter some type of domestic violence issue. Sometimes it’s as simple assault as be in other cases it can be as serious as a shooting. Recently, we’ve seen a homicide as a result of domestic violence.”

The Amarillo Police Department says there are resources for victims and families experiencing domestic violence.

“Family Support Services has some great resources for both the offender and for victims of domestic violence,” says Birkenfeld.

As part of the local domestic violence coalition the Amarillo Police Department commits a team of investigators specifically to domestic violence cases.

The investigators work to give the victims the support they need.

Chief Birkenfeld says, “If you want to report domestic violence to us, we’ll take your story, we believe you and we’ll help you make that situation better.”

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