BEND, Oregon — After a few quiet weeks at the beginning of the COVID-19 quarantine period, domestic violence calls to the Bend Police Department have increased 20% over the same period last year.
Newly released figures show Bend Police received 123 domestic violence calls between March 3 and April 19.
In 2019, it received 87 calls. In 2018, 105.
The jump is more extreme considering there has been an overall 28% decrease in calls to police during the pandemic, though that number is starting to creep back up, according to Bend Police.
Tracking a slightly different time period — March 16 to April 17 — the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office saw a 20% increase in domestic violence calls over 2019. The figure includes the communities of Sunriver and Black Butte Ranch.
Redmond Police Department reported the greatest increase in Central Oregon from March 17 to April 17: 46%.
Near the start of the quarantine period, Portland-area domestic violence organizations reported a spike in calls to hotlines and an increased demand for shelter beds, the Oregonian reported.
With more people stuck at home and out of work, criminal justice experts expected a rise in family violence. But it’s not just proximity and time together that lead to abuse. A recent survey of sexual assault victims by Bend resource center Saving Grace found that financial stress is often a precursor, and the most common trigger is the loss of a job.
Cassi MacQueen, executive director of Saving Grace, said there’s more to this new domestic violence data than meets the eye.
Many incidents are coded by police as “domestic violence” because the subjects involved live together, either as roommates or immediate family members. Saving Grace and other similar organizations work primarily with cases of intimate partner violence when the parties are in a romantic relationship.
“So it’s hard to say if those calls (intimate partner violence) are going up,” she said.
But MacQueen said the spike is unsurprising given the added stressors now afflicting Central Oregonians — kids at home, adults out of work, economic uncertainty.
Around Central Oregon, the data isn’t uniform. Domestic violence calls in Jefferson and Crook counties actually decreased significantly since residents began social distancing in March.
Domestic violence calls decreased 20% in Prineville, according to the Prineville Police Department.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office reported a decrease of 22%.
The Madras Police Department announced a 46% decrease.
But MacQueen isn’t relieved by these decreases. “It actually concerns us more than anything, because oftentimes, a survivor of domestic violence or domestic assault, it’s not safe for them to call law enforcement. It might not even be safe for them to walk into another room and call for help,” she said.
Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel urged caution interpreting the quarantine domestic violence figures.
“I don’t get too caught up with the data,” he said. “For one, there’s not enough data over a long enough time. And two, the data cuts both ways. I think it’s reasonable to conclude that if people are working from home or out of work and at home stacked on top of each other, that would lead to stress, and therefore, there are more instances of domestic violence.”
MacQueen expects to see a surge in calls when the stay-home order is lifted and victims are able to get away from abusers. The calls that have come in to Saving Grace’s help line have been severe.
“We have seen that when survivors are able to call, that they’re really in a dire situation,” she said. “But we’re not seeing a rise in calls, and one of the reasons we think that is, is people really aren’t safe to make a phone call.”
Saving Grace is testing an online chat function for victims of abuse to connect with resources, and hopes it will be operational within two weeks, MacQueen said.
Despite the slowdown at the Deschutes County Courthouse, hearings for temporary restraining orders, for when victims feel they are in immediate danger, are proceeding daily, often via conference call.
This article was originally published by the Bend Bulletin, one of more than a dozen news organizations throughout the state sharing their coverage of the novel coronavirus outbreak to help inform Oregonians about this evolving health issue.
