Domestic violence reports exceed average in Columbia as police miss out on issue-specific staffing grant
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The City of Columbia saw its average domestic violence reports increase in 2025, with some advocates warning that numbers are continuing to rise.
In 2024, the Columbia Police Department renewed its STOP Violence Against Women Act grant through the Missouri Department of Public Safety. The $195,255 grant helped fund salaries and benefits for two sworn officers and one temporary part-time employee assigned to domestic violence investigations.
The detectives are part of a county-wide Domestic Violence Enforcement Program known as the DOVE unit. The unit's goal is to decrease the number of incidents in the Boone County area with education, intervention, enforcement, and prosecution.
CPD has received the grant five times since 2014, with each award funding a one-year contract period. However, when the most recent grant cycle expired in 2025, CPD did not reapply after a mix-up that caused the application process to be missed.
“We did not get an email from the state letting us know the grant was open, so we missed the application period,” Columbia Police Chief Jill Schlude told ABC 17 News. “This did not change anything as far as staffing in DOVE.”
CPD Assistant Chief, Lance Bolinger added there have been no operational changes to the way the department’s domestic violence detectives handle cases. The only change, he said, is administrative, with the salaries of the Domestic Violence Enforcement Unit detectives are now funded through the department’s budget instead of the grant.
According to Columbia’s 2024 Stop WAWA Grant Application, CPD investigated nearly 11,000 domestic violence incidents between 2015 and August 2023, an average of about 1,200 per year. Roughly 4,000 of those investigations were criminal cases, and about 75% involved a female victim.
However, domestic violence reports exceeded that average in 2025. Data obtained from CPD shows officers responded to 1,405 domestic violence reports during the year. Of those, 654 cases, or 46.5%, resulted in an arrest. DOVE handled 165 cases, resulting in 108 arrests, a 65.4% arrest rate.
The entire DOVE unit consists of four prosecuting attorneys, three devoted to female victims and one devoted to male victims, two detectives, and a part-time assistant from CPD, one detective from the Boone County Sheriff’s Office, a victim advocate from True North, three prosecution advocates, two probation officers, a court coordinator and a counselor from the Family Counseling Center.
Michele Snodderley, Executive Director of True North of Columbia, said that despite not having the grant, CPD’s relationship with True North and the work they do within the DOVE unit have not changed.
“We have an amazing relationship with our detectives at CPD,” Snodderly said. “I was a little worried because the police department doesn't have their DOVE grant anymore. However, we did get confirmation that those services weren’t going to change, so they're still assisting us with our healthy relationships training. They come in, we have two DOVE detectives come in and train with us.”
However, Snodderly said five months into 2026, True North is already seeing an increase in domestic violence cases compared with previous years.
“We are seeing a rapid increase this year. As a matter of fact, in March of 2025, we provided just over 600 support services, and in March of 2026, we were at 1,184 support services,” Snodderly said. “I thought maybe that was just kind of a fluke, and I looked at May's [2026] numbers, we did 1,300 support services. It was almost double what we did last year.”
Snodderly said True North anticipated an increase in demand after opening its new advocacy center but was surprised by the magnitude of the growth. In April alone, she said, the organization served nearly 600 people.
“I don't know if we're seeing an increase in domestic violence or if we're seeing an increase in our services because we're removing that stigma,” Snodderly said. “We've been increasing our prevention and education, we've been increasing community outreach and awareness, so I'm hoping some of that is just because we are seeing people reaching out and they're not scared to do so anymore.”
According to Bolinger, the DOVE unit's responsibilities extend beyond investigating domestic violence cases. In 2025, DOVE detectives wrote 533 supplemental reports related to the 165 cases they handled. The unit provides training to law enforcement officers, probation and parole officers, Children's Division investigators, and other professionals on best practices for domestic violence investigations.
The DOVE team also works with True North to educate the public about the warning signs of unhealthy relationships. In 2025, detectives taught 11 classes at area high schools, four classes for True North volunteers, and six classes for law enforcement officers, reaching a total of 1,095 residents and public safety professionals.
Snodderly said education plays a critical role in helping people recognize the warning signs of abuse and safely leave potentially abusive relationships.
“I also have heard just recently that somebody asked, ‘You were married 12 years. Why are you leaving now if you're that scared of him?’ And the individual was like, 'I took care of the children. I've taken care of family members and the home, and I didn't have my own way to escape,'” Snodderly said. "So it's really about isolation and withdrawal. I think people don't realize that. I think their first thought is, ‘Well, somebody hits me, I'm going to leave. It's not that easy. So I think that's where we need to come in with more education.”
In addition, DOVE partners with True North each year to distribute drink covers, known as Stop Tops, in downtown Columbia to raise awareness about drink tampering and dating violence. Bolinger estimated the event alone reaches more than 1,000 young adults annually, in addition to the 1,095 people contacted through the unit's training and outreach efforts.
