The North Bay Police Service has not seen a significant increase in reported domestic violence cases during the pandemic.
But, that doesn’t necessarily mean it isn’t happening.
Chief Scott Tod was asked about the issue during the monthly Police Services Board Meeting on Tuesday.
“Although it hasn’t been proven at all, it’s a discussion that’s occurring with many agencies that look after intimate partner violence, domestic violence and abuse against children that they believe there’s been an under-reporting during COVID,” he says.
Tod explains the possible reason why.
“Because of the fact that people were together more often and perhaps didn’t have the freedom or the ability to make reports to the police and they were in a controlling environment,” he says.
Tod says their domestic violence calls have not gone up.
“We actually didn’t see a substantial increase in domestic-related calls for service, in fact, we saw a decrease in two of the months compared to last year. But, it’s not a significant decrease at all,” he says.
There were 135 domestic-related calls for service this past June, with 121 in July.
