Reported incidents of domestic violence are on the rise in Sarnia, and that's concerning to the city's deputy police chief.
In 2022, city officers investigated a total of 472 reports.
Julie Craddock said so far in 2023, there has been a 13 per cent increase in these types of calls year-to-date.
Craddock said she doesn't have an exact reason why the number of calls has risen, but said it could be due to a number of factors.
"We're seeing some of the stigma being removed from reporting these offences," she said. "There has also been increased awareness from the public. We've seen many reports come in from third parties or concerned citizens. It's hard to tell whether there have been more intimate partner violence calls because of an increase in frequency or an increase in reporting."
Craddock said social factors such as unaffordable housing, cost of living, housing insecurity, food insecurity, mental health and addiction could be linked to a greater likelihood of someone being the victim or perpetrator of family types of violence.
"That’s not to say that they are the cause of increased cases here but risk factors may be contributing to the increase we are seeing," she said.
Craddock said it's important to note that intimate partner violence is very different from other types of violent crime.
"The close relationship between the perpetrator and the victim really means that the violence can oftentimes be more serious, and it can occur more frequently," she said. "These types of offences also have real severe psychological consequences as the victims can really experience this loss of a sense of safety and security. These offences are happening in their own homes."
Craddock said the Lambton Coordinating Committee on violence against women has seen about a 15 per cent increase in domestic violence and sexual violence crisis line calls.
"Outside of reporting to the police, there's Victim Services of Sarnia-Lambton and the Sexual Assault Survivors' Centre. They both can actually support victims reporting intimate partner violence types of crime. Victim Services can support people in the community and can help victims in terms of safety planning and how to manage and mitigate risks," she said.
While some other municipalities have declared intimate partner violence as an epidemic, Craddock said it's not something that's been actively discussed locally.
"It's certainly something that may surface through the community safety and wellbeing planning (CSWB)," she said. "That is where some other municipalities have sort of used that CSWB framework and the mechanisms to make intimate partner violence sort of an action table in the community."
Craddock said they have explored accessing funding through the province to increase support for victims of intimate partner violence and for frontline officers.
"That's funding that we are currently seeking, it hasn't been approved yet," she said. "We have written to that grant process to seek funding in this area specifically. Really we're looking at four key objectives. We want to integrate Victim Services right within our Sarnia Police Service Criminal Investigations Division to help coordinate an internal response to intimate partner violence. We would like to send officers for specific training on domestic violence investigations, and this would enhance the investigative skills and knowledge because they are complex occurrences. We'd be looking at doing some form of evaluation for risk assessment to make sure that people who do come forward are supported post-reporting of the offense. We also want to look at pairing up with different community partners to assist in frontline training. That would really be sort of a survivor-led approach to understanding the complexities of what the needs are for people who are experiencing intimate partner violence."
Craddock said in Ontario, these offenses come with a mandatory charge.
If the officers have grounds to believe an offence has occurred, they will make arrests and prosecute.
