Grants fund 12 domestic violence projects

WASHINGTON, March 13 (UPI) -- Some $2.3 million in grants to reduce domestic violence have been awarded to 12 U.S. cities and counties, the White House announced Wednesday.

The grants are part of an initiative by the U.S. Justice Department to help state and local governments identify potential victims and monitor high-risk offenders, the administration said in a statement.

Research has found that women threatened with a gun by their partner are at 20 times more risk of later being killed than other abused women, the statement said.

The violence sometimes also results in the deaths of children, co-workers and police officers. Some 40 percent of mass shootings between 2009 and 2012 started with the shooter killing their girlfriend, wife or ex-wife, the administration added.

Demonstration projects funded by the grants will be in Contra Costa County, Calif.; Miami-Dade County, Fla.; Palm Beach County, Fla.; Rockdale County, Ga.; Winnebago County, Ill.; Boston; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Westchester County, N.Y.; Pitt County, N.C.; Cuyahoga County, Ohio; North Charleston, S.C.; and Rutland, Vt.

The projects are modeled after programs in Maryland and Massachusetts, where coordinated efforts by police, prosecutors, health professionals and victims services "significantly" reduced the rate of domestic violence homicides, the statement said.