Police on alert for domestic violence

Four officers will be on duty into the early hours of Saturday and Sunday every weekend, bar Christmas, until the middle of January, as part of Operation Nightwing.

The officers attend addresses, where police have responded to a call, to gather evidence, as well as directing victims to support services at the Hull Domestic Abuse Partnership.

In Hull there are around 550 reports of domestic violence a month but these tend to increase in the run-up to Christmas – Christmas itself being relatively quiet – and then increase again in early January.

Detective Sergeant Aidan Clarke, from Humberside Police's Public Protection Team, said they tried to gather evidence as quickly as possible as the victim was often fearful of repercussions or didn't have much faith in the criminal justice system.

"We try to get evidence as soon as we can once that incident has occurred," he said.

"Armed with that we can take cases to court even against the wishes of the victim. As time goes on they will be under more pressure from the offender or family members.

"The person we are taking away in handcuffs is often the person they see as their loving partner and they don't want to put their loving partner behind bars."

Police have also had a message printed on plastic glasses issued in city bars, reading: "Domestic violence. Don't tolerate it. Report it!", together with the non-emergency number.

Det Sgt Clarke said the community as a whole needed to be aware that domestic violence wasn't acceptable.

Help is also available in Hull for men who recognise they need to change their behaviour, through the Strength to Change Project, which can be contacted on 01482 613403.