CALGARY – The Calgary Police Service says there have been over 200 more incidents of domestic violence so far in 2015, compared to the same time period last year.
CPS released its most current statistics on domestic conflict in Calgary Thursday.
The results show police received almost 3,000 more calls to domestic conflict situations between January and September this year than in a five-year average. It’s a 16 per cent increase compared to last year.
Police couldn’t say what caused the increase, but suggested domestic violence is typically a result of a number of underlying stress factors.
“There’s a lot of things that can be at play: mental health, addictions, housing, employment, economics… a lot of stuff,” said Staff Sgt. Rob Davidson from the Domestic Conflict Unit.
READ MORE: Heat map shows were domestic violence is happening in Calgary
Typically, officers respond to to between 17,000 and 18,000 domestic conflict calls every year. The majority of them are verbal altercations that escalate to the point where police are called.
About 19 per cent of those calls this year have involved physical violence.
Thirty-four police officers and four civilian staff with the CPS work in the Domestic Conflict Unit. With help from partner agencies, they work directly with 2,400 families each year.
There were four domestic homicides in 2014 and six in 2015.
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