With domestic violence arrests climbing on Staten Island, a "family justice center" is being planned for the borough. The center, meant as a "one-stop safe haven," will allow domestic violence victims to meet with prosecutors and counselors at a single location. Brooklyn and Queens already have such centers and one is slated to open in Manhattan later this year. The centers are managed by the Mayor's Office to Combat Domestic Violence.
Staten Island, which has a population of nearly 470,000, has seen a 34 percent increase in domestic violence arrests over the past three years, District Attorney Daniel Donovan Jr. said in a press release announcing the center. Moreover, 22 percent of the borough's 2012 arrests were domestic violence-related and two of its three homicides so far this year were "linked" to domestic violence, he said.
