Domestic violence calls rise during pandemic
♦ Police say the shelter in place order may have led to escalated tensions.
Domestic violence calls to local police rose after Gov. Brian Kemp signed a shelter in place order in April, instructing Georgia residents to stay in their homes unless going out for necessities.
The Floyd County Police Department filed 430 domestic violence incident reports in April, compared to 380 reports in April 2019.
However, April 2020 saw a decrease in fight reports from last year, dropping from 239 to 206.
“The difference between a fight and a domestic are two people fighting on the side of a road and somebody sees that and calls that in,” said FCPD
Sgt. Chris Fincher. “A domestic would be two partners living together in a home.”
Since there were fewer people going out in April, there would be a decrease in fight incidents, according to Fincher. However, with two people living at home and tensions rising, this created more opportunities for these tensions to flare.
Fincher represents FCPD on the board of Hospitality House, a local organization dedicated to helping women get out of domestic violence situations.
Hospitality House also runs a crisis line people can call if they find themselves in an abusive situation and need to find a place to stay. For the month of April, Fincher said those calls were down.
“The speculation there is that because both people were home because of the shelter-in-place, the victim didn’t have as much opportunity to call,” he said. “They were both trapped at home.”
The same speculation can be applied to a decrease in 911 calls the county received in April, he said. In April 2019, Floyd County 911 received a total of 15,503 calls. Last month, 911 had 11,665 calls.
Incidents involving 911 emergency calls often mean that something serious happened at a home and the police need to be involved.
“Because both parties are home and neither can leave, there’s not the opportunity for peace,” Fincher said.
Rome Assistant Police Chief Debbie Burnett found there was only a slight increase in domestic violence calls in April 2020 compared with the same time last year. The Rome Police Department received 231 calls for the month, only 12 more than in April 2019.
Burnett made a similar attribution to the increase, saying people were home more and that tension grew. However, with such a small increase, she said, it can be hard to tell.
For those who find themselves in a domestic violence situation, Fincher advises the person to contact the crisis line at 706-235-4673, but if the person is in danger, Fincher said to call 911.
Burnett said there also is an anonymous tip line at 706-236-5000 that people can call if they feel unsafe in their situation. If they don’t think they can talk, they can text 911 as well.