To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Violence is still an issue
Share this:
That, however, is an across-the-board result. An accurate picture of the state of law and order in the Island depends on examination of the various categories of crime that have been reported and investigated.
It is, for example, possible that the overall pattern has been skewed by success in
certain areas. Indeed, it is likely that the success of Operation Hornet, the drive to counter burglary, has contributed to the favourable position. The 35 per cent drop in instances of this particular crime can, nevertheless, be described as highly
satisfactory.
The 11 per cent decrease in ‘acquisitive’ crime – essentially theft, robbery and some forms of motor vehicle offence – can also be described as very satisfactory, but areas remain which offer considerable cause for concern. Assaults are very much a case in point, the number of recorded incidents having increased by 14 per cent so far this year.
But, as the chief officer of the States police, Mike Bowron, has pointed out, further dissection of the crimes of violence statistics reveals an alarming trend – a substantial increase in the number of domestic assaults.
Mr Bowron suggests that this might simply point to an increase in the number of victims who are willing to come forward and make a complaint. This is a plausible explanation, but it does little if anything to disguise the fact that violence in the home is far too prevalent in this Island. Addressing real numbers rather than percentages, the Jersey Domestic Violence Forum records that in the past 12 months the police have dealt with more than 1,000 domestic incidents.
Given that such incidents involve a minimum of two people, this means that something approaching one in 50 of the population has been directly affected – and that is to exclude the effect on family members and friends.
As Mr Bowron says, a single case of domestic violence would be one too many. It is, therefore, essential that, as he promises, the police will find new ways to complement the Domestic Violence Forum’s excellent work and help people living in fear in their own homes.
Related