Fulton County now ranks ninth out of the state's 62 counties in domestic violence incidents, as a ratio to population, according to new data released by the state.
In other words, one in 137 people in the county, which has a population of 55,531, has reported an incidence of domestic violence.
In nearby counties, Herkimer ranked 36, Saratoga ranked 45, Hamilton ranked 53rd and Montgomery ranked 58th.
The highest-ranking county was Schenectady and the lowest was Wyoming.
Total incidents statewide went from 78,930 to 83,820 from 2009 to 2010, according to the state Division of Criminal Justice Services.
According to U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer's office, Fulton County had 333 domestic-violence incidents in 2009 and 405 in 2010.
Schumer released the data as he's pushing for renewal of the 18-year-old Violence Against Women Act.
The measure is heading to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee for the renewal process. Lawmakers are pushing for the legislation to expand a grant program for services to victims of domestic violence in rural areas.
The Violence Against Women Act expired one year ago. However, many of the programs supported by the legislation have continued to receive funding over the last year as the House and Senate have passed continuing resolutions.
In New York state alone, $145 million in federal funds have been distributed through programs, which provide funding for training and education programs, included in the act.
The new legislation would include Services Training Officers Prosecutors grants for training police officers and legal professionals in prevention of dating violence, stalking, sexual assault and other forms of domestic violence.
According to a news release from Schumer, D-N.Y., who authored the original bill in 1994, the new legislation would provide 20 percent of the STOP funds specifically for improving advocacy and the criminal justice system's response to sexual violence reports.
The money can be used for training law enforcement and judicial officers in responding to dating violence and stalking, if the legislation is renewed.
A specific grant program for rural communities would provide services to adult and youth victims where previous grants were allocated more for public education than actual services to victims.
The specific grant program that already targets rural counties would be expanded to include sexual assault forensic examiner programs and funding for sexual assault response teams.
Such teams are essential in areas where resources and funding are scarce, and the initial response to a call is crucial, officials said.
Fulton County District Attorney Louise Sira said if any of the grant funding were to make its way to Fulton County, it would improve existing services, such as the projects undertaken by the Fulton County Domestic Violence Task Force.
The task force is a collaborative effort that brings professionals from criminal justice, social services, mental health and other human services together.
Sira said if she could craft legislation, it would include providing more counseling services for families that experience domestic violence, and money toward preventing services and direct response to victims to meet domestic violence victims' needs.
In an area like Fulton County, pooling resources is crucial, she said.
"We have found that any time you can consolidate services and collaborate on how you're going to approach a problem, it is to the benefit of all involved," Sira said. "A communitywide approach, as opposed to a limited jurisdictional approach, gives a consistent response. In other words, its going to be treated similarly regardless of where they live and greater access of services."
In October 2010, the Gloversville Police Department received $25,000 for a domestic violence suppression initiative through the Department of Criminal Justice Services.
At the time, DCJS Acting Commissioner Sean M. Byrne said the funding would provide GPD with the money to train officers in protocol, which was first implemented by the New York City Police Department, and to do more followup on domestic-violence calls.
In Gloversville, 81 percent of the simple and aggravated assaults reported in 2009 involved intimate partners, Byrne said at the time.
Women were reported as a victim in 94 percent of those cases, he said.
Sira said 50 percent of domestic-violence calls in the county occur in Gloversville.
He said officers will go back to homes where domestic violence is reported and check up on the people possibly once a week for three to four weeks.
The GPD already works closely with the Fulton County Domestic Violence Task Force, which is part of the reason the department was chosen, Byrne said.
"The community output and followup by police officers, that's gotten very positive reviews for victims," Sira said Thursday.
City police Capt. John Sira, husband of the district attorney, said police have used federal money to pay for four- to five- hour overtime shifts where officers come in specifically to go through domestic-violence reports and follow up with victims.
During these shorter shifts, officers review domestic-violence reports from the previous shift, do background investigation and revisit the victims.
"They'll go out to the victims' residence and reinterview them, and try to nip the domestic-violence cycle in the bud and put forward the services that are available to domestic- violence victims, and see if they're interested in utilizing them," Capt. Sira said.
The goal is for officers to return to the scene before they are called again for another report of violence.
"It's been received [well] by the people who have been interviewed and [have] been the victims of domestic violence; it's been received very, very favorably," Capt. Sira said.
Amanda Whistle can be reached at gloversville@leaderherald.com