Police praise Euro 2016 fans after seeing a drop in domestic abuse incidents

Police have praised fans across the county after domestic abuse incidents have fallen since the start of the Euro 2016 tournament.

After England’s shock defeat against Iceland on Monday night, call handlers at West Yorkshire Police’s Customer Contact Centre took a total of 4,686 calls on the night. Out of those calls, there were 41 domestic related incidents between 7pm and 2am which was an 18 per cent drop from the previous Monday.

Detective Superintendent Darren Minton, of West Yorkshire Police’s Safeguarding Central Governance Unit, said: “Even though it is very disappointing for fans up and down the country that England are now out of the tournament, I am pleased that the number of domestic related incidents has dropped following the last two matches.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank fans for their behaviour so far and I hope this continues throughout the rest of the tournament. Our message stills remains that we hope everyone enjoys the football but just be mindful that violent behaviour will not be tolerated.

“We have specially trained officers working across the Force in our specialist safeguarding units who take all reports seriously, deal with them sensitively and do everything possible to safeguard those who are vulnerable.”

West Yorkshire’s Police & Crime Commissioner (PCC) Mark Burns-Williamson, said: “It’s good to see that calls to service for domestic incidents have reduced over the period and that’s testament to the hard work and awareness raising of West Yorkshire Police and partners.

“However one domestic incident is one too many and we won’t stop our work both trying to prevent these incidents in the first place and providing the very best help to victims when incidents unfortunately do occur.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It is absolutely crucial that victims know that domestic abuse is not their fault and that they do not have to put up with it. There’s no reason for a violent or abusive home and it’s something no-one should have to live with at any time.”

Tom Donohoe, Head of the Customer Contact Centre, said: “On a tough night in terms of call demand my staff coped really well with what was asked of them. It has to be said that domestic abuse related calls can be amongst the most distressing that a member of staff has to deal with, and one is too many, but a reduction in number is very welcome.

“The team are here to help anyone in this position and are trained to respond quickly to the needs of the caller, or, we have webchat if the person needing our help feels more comfortable using this method, it is available from the Contact Us page of the West Yorkshire Police website.”

Anyone who feels they may be at risk of being victims can contact West Yorkshire Police on 101.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

If it is an emergency and you feel you are in immediate danger then ring 999.

A national domestic violence 24 hour helpline can also be called on 0808 2000 247 or visit http://www.nationaldomesticviolencehelpline.org.uk/ for additional help and support.

For more information, please visit: http://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/euro2016.