Alcohol a factor in spike in violence offences

Western Bay of Plenty police Inspector Clifford Paxton said greater awareness around anti-violence campaigns such as "It's Not Okay" was paying dividends. Photo / John Stone

Alcohol consumption remains a significant factor in violence offences and anti-social behaviour, say police.

Western Bay of Plenty police Inspector Clifford Paxton said while work had been done by police and other agencies in highlighting the "family violence is not okay" message, more work still needed to be done.

Earlier this week, the Bay of Plenty Times ran an article about more reporting of family violence, and Mr Paxton was asked to further elaborate on what was sparking this trend, and what was being done to address these problems.

Mr Paxton said greater awareness around anti-violence campaigns such as "It's Not Okay" was paying dividends, resulting in a significant increase in reporting of incidents of family violence.

"There appears to be a greater willingness to report incidents of family violence and disturbances within the home. What we are seeing is people reporting incidents more often, and more often at a lower level. This is a positive in regards to reducing victimisation," he said.

During the past two months, there were 195 assaults in the home, compared with 129 for the same two-month period in December 2013 and January 2014 - up 51.1 per cent.

Mr Paxton said more work needed to be done by police and agencies to try and help families in these situations.

Mr Paxton was also asked to comment on the 72 per cent increase in public place assaults and 72.7 per cent increase in assaults on police within the past two months.

At this time of year, there was a significant increase in visitors coming into the Western Bay of Plenty and socialising within the main entertainment areas, he said

"We have, on occasions, seen the impact of excessive alcohol consumption in the CBD and our main entertainment areas leading to incidents of disorder and public place assaults.

"Unfortunately the increases in these areas can also see increases in assaults on police when trying to deal with these types of disturbances."