FRESNO (KMJ) — Domestic violence rates in Fresno are on up. Over the last 28 days Fresno Police have seen a 70% increase in the number of reported cases.
“The warmer months come, more people are consuming alcohol, there’s a potential for increased violence involving relationships and family members”, says Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer.
But Officers are seeing something unique right now. That it’s not just spouses involved but children too.
“And what we’ve also seen is an increase in the number of arrests females who are the aggressors in some of these domestic violence cases”.
Previous figures from Fresno Police show the vast majority of cases a male was the suspect, but Chief Dyer adds that it doesn’t change how they approach a domestic violence situation.
“We always investigate domestic violence cases objectively. We look for who the aggressor is, we look for visible signs of injury, we contact people in the resident, [such as] potential witnesses, [or] children to see who in fact is the aggressor – who should be arrested”.
It comes less than a month after a Fresno attorney announced his intention to file federal charges against Fresno PD alleging city residents are being severely harmed by the lax enforcement of domestic violence laws.
But when asked whether the increase in reported cases was connected to that, Chief Dyer was adamant that there was nothing linking the two.
