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North Area officers pleased with results of domestic abuse campaign
Posted on 21/01/2009
North Area officers pleased with results of domestic abuse campaign
Police officers who ran the North Area Domestic Abuse Enforcement Campaign across the Christmas period say they are pleased with the results.
Sergeant Kev Wright, from Loughborough police station, said; "We set out to achieve three things; to increase reporting of domestic abuse, to reduce victimisation and to target high risk offenders and we achieved all of those things."
Local crime analysis shows that domestic abuse increases by as much as 70% during the Christmas period. To combat the expected increase in incidents, a number of police officers across the North Area, which covers Loughborough, Charnwood, North West Leicestershire, Rutland and Melton, were given specialist training and were used as domestic abuse champions for the duration of the campaign. Their primary role was to offer support and advice and gather the best possible evidence at the time of the incident. Each case was then referred to a team of specialist Domestic Abuse Investigation Officers (DAIOs) who worked seven days a week during the campaign period. Their role was to take detailed statements and talk through the range of options available to the victim.
Between December 12th 2007 and January 5th 2008 there were 321 reports of domestic incidents (97 of them involving violence), between December 12th 2008 and January 5th 2009 there were 309 incidents reported to the police (106 of them involving violence) a reduction of 3%. There was a 21% reduction in the number of repeat victims and 43 people were arrested and charged with domestic related incidents.
Sergeant Wright continued; "The champions role worked really well. They were able to gather the strongest possible evidence at the scene of each incident and take detailed statements. This information was then passed to the specialist Domestic Abuse Investigations Officers who were then able to present a really strong case to the Crown Prosecution Service which led to better and swifter results at court. There was a significant drop in the number of repeat offences and those people who did offend were dealt with firmly and quickly.
"We had one lady who contacted us over the Christmas period on our dedicated mobile phone number. She had suffered years of abuse but never reported it to the police before. After reading the coverage of our campaign in the local media she worked up the courage to call us and with our help, and that of Womens Aid, we were able to get her and her children a place at a hostel and she left her partner and moved out that night. We got her and her children to safety and that is great. We are now looking at how we can run a similar campaign throughout the year."
A new service of drop in clinics have been set up across the five policing areas. They are being held discreetly in public buildings in town centres to enable women who are out shopping to pop in without fear of being discovered by their abusive partner. Victims can call a dedicated mobile number 0782 7623543 to find out when and where they are being held.