Boulder County, Colo. - Domestic violence remains a serious problem in every community. Boulder County saw 1,019 domestic violence cases in 2024, 968 in 2025, and 658 cases year-to-date. Longmont continues to have the highest number of cases, highlighting the urgent need for coordinated community response. With the possible closing of Safe Shelter of St. Vrain Valley, domestic violence victims are facing a crisis.

The District Attorney’s Office prioritizes the prosecution of domestic violence abusers. In 2020 – 2021, the Office saw a critical need to improve our response and created an innovative, victim-centered approach to the investigation and prosecution of these important cases. The Office created the Domestic Violence Acute Response Team (DV ART). This team possesses specialized skills and experience, as well as the use of best practices to more effectively address victim safety and offender accountability. DV ART’s approach is unique in Colorado and has already demonstrated success. DV ART has partnered with the law enforcement agencies in Boulder County and several community-based resource providers to enhance victim safety.

Additionally, several years ago, the District Attorney’s Office and all the law enforcement agencies in Boulder County implemented the use of the Lethality Assessment Protocol. The success here in Boulder County led to House Bill 26-1009: Colorado Mandatory Lethality Assessment Act. That law requires peace officers to complete evidenced-based lethality assessments in domestic violence incidents and to immediately contact a community-based victim advocate to help high-risk victims.

Community partners are essential to this work. Boulder County has two primary domestic violence non-profit advocacy organizations: The Safe Shelter of St. Vrain in Longmont and the Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Non-Violence (SPAN) in Boulder. SPAN and Safe Shelter provide invaluable assistance and support to survivors of domestic violence.

Safe Shelter is the domestic violence shelter and support provider for Longmont. Today, it faces closure. If Safe Shelter closes, the Longmont community will lose emergency beds, crisis response, safety planning, advocacy and housing support.

District Attorney Michael Dougherty stated, “For several years, DV ART has shown that immediate outreach to victims leads to stronger cases, better information, and enhanced safety. The program delivers real, sustained results because of the dedication of our team and our partnerships throughout the community. But we cannot do this work alone. SPAN and Safe Shelter of St. Vrain Valley are essential, critical lifelines for survivors. Our community needs Safe Shelter to remain open, so victims have a safe place to turn when they are most at risk.”