pete 2,511 Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 By EDDIE BARNES Published on Sunday 17 March 2013 00:00 THE absence of Old Firm matches this year has led to a marked decline in the number of domestic violence incidents, Scotlandâ??s most senior police officer has said. Steve House, who takes over as Chief Constable of Police Scotland in two weeks time, said there was now effectively a â??holidayâ? period for police with the regular Celtic vs Rangers games on hold. In previous seasons, police found that domestic violence incidents rocketed in the wake of the four-times a year game between Scottish footballâ??s most bitter rivals. But, with Rangers having been demoted to the Scottish Third Division this year, House said the effect on crime was already noticeable across the country. Asked whether there had been an impact on levels of domestic violence since the Old Firm clashes ended, he said: â??We arenâ??t seeing those spikes that we had after Old Firm games and there arenâ??t the same levels. This isnâ??t so much about the 50,000 people at the game who are well policed, itâ??s the whole country that reacts, or those outside the game.â? House said that the lack of the fixture had also removed a massive strain on police resources. â??We had one year when there were seven games. Weâ??ll take the holiday while we can.â? Figures collated by Strathclyde Police in 2011 showed that, on one Old Firm weekend, there had been 142 cases compared to an average of 67. It found the average for an Old Firm weekend was 107 incidents. No figures for the last year have yet been published to show whether domestic violence has officially fallen. The most recent figures show that police recorded a total of 59,847 cases in 2011-12, up from 55,698 the previous year. In eight out of ten cases, the violence is perpetrated by a man on a woman, with women between the ages of 22 and 25 most at risk. House was speaking as Scotlandâ??s eight forces are set to be merged into one national force on 1 April. He said that key priorities for the new force were a fresh police drive to reduce levels of violent crime, including domestic abuse and rape. In an interview with Scotland on Sunday, he said he supported comments by the head of the Crown Prosecution Service, Keir Starmer, who said last week that rape investigations were being â??undermined by a belief that false accusations are rifeâ?. House said: â??I think Keir Starmer is right. You look at the numbers of false accusations and they are really very small.â? He claimed attitudes within the police towards reports of sexual assault had now changed. â??There used to be a time when I would look at the police log in the morning and it would show violent crime, burglaries, alleged rape. We donâ??t say alleged any more. We just say rape.â? He also identified continuing high levels of alcohol abuse as being responsible for many violent crimes, insisting that almost all police officers in Scotland would now see it as a bigger threat to communities than drug abuse. â??If you asked any police officer, what is the bigger problem that they are facing, alcohol or drugs, they will say alcohol every time,â? he said. On the low-cost sales of drink in supermarkets, he said: â??I look at the adverts across all the papers from supermarkets on the mistakes over horsemeat. You think, well shouldnâ??t there be something there as well about cheap alcohol.â? House also insisted that the move to a single force was on track. He also denied that, with powers to assert law and order across the whole of the country, his office could be abused. â??Iâ??ve got a Scottish Police Authority, Iâ??ve got 32 councils, Iâ??ve got Audit Scotland, and the HM ICS , Iâ??ve got a committee at Parliament and a sub-committee as well, Iâ??ve got the media, staff associations, the unions and the public. It feels very accountable to me,â? he said. Funny how there is only a photo of Ibrox in this story of the old firm. http://www.scotsman.com/scotland-on-sunday/old-firm-absence-leads-to-drop-in-domestic-violence-1-2841538 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
54andcounting 0 Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 Funny how there is only a photo of Ibrox in this story of the old firm. It's actually quite a nice peaceful pic of Ibrox Stadium...check the main pic and it's title - a slight on the greasy brigade. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 4,050 Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 They reported on this before. What they then and now fail to do is checking the actual statistics, they simply mix-up all old Firm games, make no difference between a e.g. Rangers defeat or a Scum defeat. Anyone willing to check these stats out? Anyone willing to ask Strathclyde's finest about the domestic violence stats for the 0-3 reverse vs Juve at home, and the 0-2 reverse in Turin, our 1-2 reverse against Annan? Just for getting a "better" view? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,831 Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 No figures for the last year have yet been published to show whether domestic violence has officially fallen. Hmmm:facepalm: 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real PapaBear 0 Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 They reported on this before. What they then and now fail to do is checking the actual statistics, they simply mix-up all old Firm games, make no difference between a e.g. Rangers defeat or a Scum defeat. Anyone willing to check these stats out? Anyone willing to ask Strathclyde's finest about the domestic violence stats for the 0-3 reverse vs Juve at home, and the 0-2 reverse in Turin, our 1-2 reverse against Annan? Just for getting a "better" view? where are you going with this dB? You want to know if they have more wife beating scum in their support than we do in ours? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 4,050 Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 where are you going with this dB? You want to know if they have more wife beating scum in their support than we do in ours? Impartial reporting? As it is now, it's much like over here with goverment reports saying that right wing (Neo-Nazi) and left wing "violence" has increased. What they fail to address is that right wing violence usually affects people directly, while left wing violence generally affects cars et al. The Scottish media falls over one another if anything naughty can be reported about Rangers fans (remember TBB at Berwick), even in this article (and many before) show a Rangers picture. They all fell and fall ominous quiet about any Scum-naughtiness and you have to dig up the Hamiton Observer or the like to find any reports about Hooped Horrors threatening the public or rampaging through trains ... and even there they carefully leave out the club's name more often than not. Thus, I for one wouldn't be surprised if the violence after a Celtic defeat is much greater than after a Rangers defeat, but as it is neatly mixed up in the report, we get a "fair" share of the blame. And even if it is "all square", why not say so? A few simple calls to the police can rectify this. Like the question about the Juve games. Just remember the screaming girl ... 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 4,050 Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 where are you going with this dB? You want to know if they have more wife beating scum in their support than we do in ours? Impartial reporting? As it is now, it's much like over here with goverment reports saying that right wing (Neo-Nazi) and left wing "violence" has increased. What they fail to address is that right wing violence usually affects people directly, while left wing violence generally affects cars et al. The Scottish media falls over one another if anything naughty can be reported about Rangers fans (remember TBB at Berwick), even in this article (and many before) show a Rangers picture. They all fell and fall ominous quiet about any Scum-naughtiness and you have to dig up the Hamiton Observer or the like to find any reports about Hooped Horrors threatening the public or rampaging through trains ... and even there they carefully leave out the club's name more often than not. Thus, I for one wouldn't be surprised if the violence after a Celtic defeat is much greater than after a Rangers defeat, but as it is neatly mixed up in the report, we get a "fair" share of the blame. And even if it is "all square", why not say so? A few simple calls to the police can rectify this. Like the question about the Juve games. Just remember the screaming girl ... 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueMazza 0 Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 Any fall in domestic violence is only a good. I understand your point DB but to me it's not the point. I do wish the dumbass cop hadn't said 'we'll take this holiday' when there is still an average of what 67 reports a weekend. That is 67 people being abused by the person supposed to care about them. So no, you won't take it as a holiday, you insensitive prick. Hopefully real figures when released will give more of an indication. Even one act of DV perpetrated by a Rangers fan is one too many and it is not something to get complacent about, if proven the other side has more. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calgacus 8 Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 The real problem is not the Rangers Game, it is the fact that a lot of people use it as an excuse to drink to excess and then get violent. The true comparison would be other occasions when people in the West of Scotland tend to consume a lot of alcohol like Christmas and New Year and possibly holiday weekends. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueMazza 0 Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 The real problem is not the Rangers Game, it is the fact that a lot of people use it as an excuse to drink to excess and then get violent. The true comparison would be other occasions when people in the West of Scotland tend to consume a lot of alcohol like Christmas and New Year and possibly holiday weekends. Completely agree. It does also derail the issue & the comments made it sound as thought it's not a problem really other than on those 4 days of the year. I think it's a good thing there has been a drop, but eventually Rangers will play Celtic again. Not having a game does not deal with the underlying issue, and it's lazy & stupid of the media & police to intimate it does. I'd like to see the police figures on what *they* have done to reduce domestic violence rates. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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