Police campaign aims to tackle domestic abuse over Christmas

South Yorkshire Police said the scheme aims to highlight crimes that increase over the festive period - and often involve alcohol as an aggravating factor.

The focus on domestic abuse is the final strand of the force's No Regrets campaign.

Police said it usually sees a rise in the number of reports of domestic abuse at this time of year with almost half of all incidents in South Yorkshire involving a suspect under the influence of drink or drugs.

Superintendent Natalie Shaw, the force’s lead officer on domestic abuse, said: “While this is a special time of year, full of enjoyment and happy memories, there is a dark side to Christmas as a number of people across the county suffer in silence at the hands of a domestic abuser.

“It’s a sad fact that at this time of year increasing numbers of people, many of whom are children, suffer some form of physical violence or threatening behaviour.

“Throughout December we can receive over 400 reports of domestic abuse each week, that’s at least 50 incidents a day and very sharp reminder of the reasons behind our No Regrets campaign.

“I don’t want people to keep their suffering a secret this Christmas and I guarantee that we, along with our partners, will do everything in our power to support you and your children.

“We are here to help and we will always put the needs of those suffering first. We can meet you away from your home, our officers can wear plain clothes, we can use unmarked police cars. We will do everything we can to protect people at risk.

“To enhance the way we support those facing domestic abuse we have also established new safeguarding adult teams. This places specialist police officers alongside staff from other organisations that work to safeguard some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

“This means our work complements that of councils and places us in the best position to identify, support and provide immediate protection. It also provides a platform for long-term solutions to be found enabling survivors to positively move forward with their lives.”

Superintendent Shaw said it was also important to make sure offenders get the right support so they can change their behaviour.

More information on the campaign can be found on Twitter – @SYPTweet #NoRegrets – and on the South Yorkshire Police page on Facebook.