Domestic abuse on rise in Tipp

Many victims do not report such crimes

Domestic abuse incidents in Tipperary increased by ten per cent for the year up to the week before Christmas, the Chief Superintendent of An Garda Síochána in Tipperary revealed.

Speaking the the December meeting of the Tipperary Joint Policing Committee, Chief Superintendent Derek Smart informed members of the upward trend in domestic abuse, which encompasses offences such as breaches of barring orders, protection orders and safety orders.

The Chief Superintendent said he wanted to assure those who were victims of such crimes that the gardaí would be doing all they could to protect them over the Christmas period and into the New Year.

He said gardaí were specially trained to deal with such incidents and the force in Tipperary had carried out risk assessment into each case of domestic abuse that they are informed of.

Committee Chairman Noel Coonan said a ten per cent increase in domestic abuse may not seem like a lot, but he expressed concern that there were many victims who did not report such crimes to the gardaí. “A lot of people suffer in silence as well and we need to bee middful of this.”

The Chief Superintendent said he feared that a lot of domestic abuse was not brought to the attention of the force, yet gardaí were receiving increasing calls in relation to such crime. He felt this was probably due to media awareness campaigns urging people who know of domestic abuse to report it.

He said there were helpline numbers on patrol cars that victims and members of the public could ring to give information.

“My advice to everyone is that if you are concerned about anybody in the community please let us know. We can then try to reach out to those people and get them the help they need.”

The Chief Superintendent said the lockdowns imposed due to the pandemic was possibly contributing to such crime

Cllr Pat English noted that the increase of domestic abuse in Tipperary was at a similar level when the committee last met earlier in the year. He said the committee should be spreading the word on where victims of such crime can get help and support.

Cllr Ger Darcy said the fact that domestic abuse was on the increase was a worry.