Commander for the Milton Keynes local policing area, Marc Tarbit, revealed in an exclusive interview with MKFM that the local police force receive high volumes of reports when it comes to domestic abuse.
Marc Tarbit, commander for the Milton Keynes local policing area, told of how Thames Valley Police were concerned that over lockdown people wouldn't have the opportunity to contact police if they were in need.
Over lockdown, Thames Valley Police aimed to prioritise this issue and focused on contacting those who may need their help and using resources to perform checks.
Speaking on MKFM's listener Q&A broadcast, Marc Tarbit said: "we get high numbers of reports of domestic abuse in MK, higher than the rest of Thames Valley Police, which reassures me that people do feel confident to report to us."
As a local police force, there are three main focuses when it comes to tackling domestic abuse.
The first being that they aim to get to instances as quickly as they can. Their second main priority is to make an arrest, in which is how around 50% of cases end in.
Thirdly, it is really important for the police force that they get the right outcome. Tarbit said: "We can use the criminal justice system for that and we can also use ancillary orders which are things like domestic violence prevention notices."
A domestic prevention notice is when the police take the case to court and ask for them to consider placing perameters between offenders and victims, allowing victims to be more empowered.
When speaking on how to report domestic violence in Milton Keynes, Tarbis said: "There are charities that will also accept and can notify us (TVP), there are various means where people can highlight it. Generally, if people feel threatened and in immediate danger then 999 is the number to call."
For non-emergencies you can make a report online or call 101
In an emergency, always call 999.
If you do not feel comfortable speaking to the police, you can report information anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
National Centre for Domestic Violence https://www.ncdv.org.uk/ 0800 970 2070
