Police Record Significant Rise in Domestic Violence Reports

Police in Devon have seen a significant rise in the reporting of Domestic violence offences in new figures announced today.

The rise in domestic violence reports, of 22.8% or 886 more reports on the previous year, follows from an effort by officers to encourage victims of domestic violence to report abuse.

While potentially a sign that this effort has been successful police have cautioned that, while these figures are only one indication of how the Force is doing and overall figures rarely show the true picture.

Devon commander, Chief Superintendent Paul Davies, said of the figures: “Victims are at the forefront of everything we do and our officers focus on the crimes that have the most adverse impact on people’s lives. We are doing everything we can to reduce crime in these areas.

“Domestic abuse, which accounts for about a third of all violent crime, remains a high priority for us. This, along with sexual offences, is an area that has been traditionally under-reported to police.

“Officers have concentrated on encouraging victims to report incidents to police, which may help to explain why the number of incidents in this area has increased.

The figures covering, the period between April 1 2013 and 31 March 2014, also showed an increased reporting of sexual offences which rose by 13.6% and both violence with injury (2.8%)and violence without injury (16.4%).

Despite these rises, reductions elsewhere, such as in several categories of burglary offences has actually seen a slight drop in overall crime for the county, with 122 fewer crimes reported than last year.

Ch Supt Davies said: “The reduction in crime in Devon is a commendable achievement by my officers and staff who have been working incredibly hard over the last 12 months to ensure Devon remains a safe place to live.

“We have seen significant reductions in robbery, burglary and criminal damage which are all extremely difficult and stressful for victims to cope with and I am pleased to see these crimes continue to fall.”

Forcewide,police described the overall crime level as ‘static’, reporting a slight increase of 201 crimes.

Deputy Chief Constable Bill Skelly said: “These figures are encouraging, with £40 million less budget and fewer officers, crime is roughly at the same level it was last year when we had more officers and staff.

“We have seen significant reductions in robbery, dwelling burglary, and vehicle offences, along with criminal damage incidents, which are all extremely difficult and stressful for victims to cope with and I am pleased to see these crimes continue to decline.

“The overall increase in total crime of 201 crimes, or less than one day’s worth, is a commendable achievement by officers and staff who have been working incredibly hard over the last 12 months.”

Police and crime commissioner Tony Hogg says the static level of crime recorded in Devon and Cornwall over the last 12 months provides a solid platform to improve performance in coming years.

“Last year I asked the chief constable to cut overall crime by two per cent and, while I would have preferred to be talking today about a drop in the number of offences, I acknowledge the Force has progressed at a time when it has less money and fewer people,” said Mr Hogg.

“At the end of last summer I had serious concerns about areas of Force performance and asked the chief constable to look at how his officers were dealing with certain types of crime – particularly those high volume, low level crimes which have such a big impact on communities.

“Given the exceptional demands placed on the police since I voiced those concerns – including the winter storms and flooding when we saw officers and staff working tirelessly and bravely to protect their communities - I am pleased with the response and that has had a direct effect on the figures announced today.”

However, Mr Hogg also expressed concern at the rise in domestic violence reported to Devon and Cornwall Police.

“The Force continues to deliver excellent performance in relation to serious acquisitive crime, householders in Devon and Cornwall are less than half as likely to be burgled than the national average,” he said.

“But there is an increase in domestic abuse and sexual offences and my office is working with the Force to understand why that is. If we can put the rise down to increased public confidence and more reporting then that is positive, but at the moment we don’t know why.

“I am also very concerned about levels of violent crime and I call on everyone in society to play their part in reducing it. Recorded rates of violent crime are higher here than they are in Merseyside, the West Midlands and Great Manchester and that just can’t be acceptable.

“Yes the police must play its part in taking strict enforcement action but individuals must also be less tolerant of behaviour, such as excessive drinking, that leads to violent behaviour.

“We must look, with our partners, at a range of coordinated measures to tackle this blight on our society.”