1,168 reported incidents of domestic violence in county last year
By Aura McMenamin
THERE was an overall decrease in domestic violence incidents in 2017 in the county compared to the previous year, however most areas have seen an individual increase, according to figures from the the Joint Policing Committee (JPC) on Friday, February 2.
Last year there were 1,168 reported incidents of domestic violence in the county, a decrease from 2016 which saw 1,178 incidents.
2017 was the first that statistics on reported domestic violence incidents were included alongside other crime figures in the JPCs meetings, where local reps and community workers meet with senior Garda members.
The biggest decrease of domestic violence incidents came from Tallaght, which saw the number drop from 816 in 2016 to 767 in 2017, a difference of six per cent.
Despite the overall decrease in domestic violence figures, areas in the DMR West division of the county such as Lucan, Ronanstown, Clondalkin and Rathcoole saw an increase in 2017.
Incidents in Clondalkin for 2017 stood at 100, up from 83 in 2016. Lucan saw 51 incidents last year, up from 48, while Rathcoole saw 34 incidents compared to 23 the previous year.
Ronanstown saw 80 domestic violence incidents in 2017, up from 74 in 2016.
Rathfarnham, like Tallaght, is also in the DMR South division, and saw an increase of incidents from 134 in 2016 to 136 in 2017.
In 2017, Clondalkin became one of the four Divisional Protective Service Units (DPSU) in the country to deal with crimes including sexual crime, human trafficking, child abuse and domestic abuse.
The DPSUs work with agencies such as child agency Tusla to protect vulnerable victims in these cases.
DMR West division superintendent Lorraine Wheatley told the JPC on Friday: “We are reaching out to different agencies – we’re seeing relationships built up with Tusla and other agencies.
“These units are developing – I’m astounded at how busy they are… I have been astounded at the volume of incidents.”
Chairperson of the JPC Councillor Deirdre O’Donovan told The Echo: “The figures are hard to delve into – they can range from a couple getting into an argument, neighbours putting a call in, they may not be physical.
“The stats are not broken down into the type of incident or the gender of the victim in each incident”.
Cllr O’Donovan said: “One challenge of the JPC is knowing how much information to divulge – too much can make people identifiable in an area.
“I would like to see an agency take stats and paint a broader picture of what triggers these situations and what we can do about it.”
