The Fond du Lac Police Department is reporting a downward trend in domestic violence since 2017.
In 2019, the police department reports 308 domestic violence arrests. That number is up from 286 in 2018 and 299 in 2017.
"Even though the rate of domestic violence increased slightly from 2017 to 2018, we are still encouraged that the 2019 rate remains much lower than the incident rates we saw in both 2014 and 2015," said the police department in a press release.
From 2014 to 2016, Fond du Lac police averaged 336 domestic violence arrests per year. From 2017 to 2019, they averaged about 298 arrests per year. On average, that is 38 fewer incidents of domestic violence per year. The police department says this is especially significant considering even a single incident of domestic violence can have deadly consequences.
Violence in homes, and specifically domestic violence, is by far the leading cause of all violent crime in Fond du Lac, according to police. For that reason, the police department formed the Domestic Violence Intervention Team (DVIT) in 2013.
The DVIT is a team of officers who follow up on and review all incidents of domestic violence. They provide supplementary investigation efforts that may be needed and connect families with support services that are available to them.
"We are thankful for the efforts of our officers in our day-to-day work to fight domestic violence in our community, and we are very grateful to have so many community partners to work alongside in doing so," said Fond du Lac police. "Through our combined efforts and assistance to one another, we will continue to work tirelessly to reduce the amount of domestic violence that we see in our community."
