By JULIE CUNNINGHAM
(Orange, MA) Ever wonder why domestic violence calls are not in the police logs? Orange Police Department explained in a recent social media post meant to shine light on the way domestic calls are handled and logged in Massachusetts.
“The other day someone said to us that with the pandemic and stress levels being high, she was happy to see we hadn’t had any domestic violence calls,” said the department on social media.
Domestic Violence Calls and sexual assault are no longer public record thanks to An Act Relative to Domestic Violence which was passed in 2014. The reasoning, the department explained, is to protect the victim.
“The ‘double edged sword’ is that the ‘bad guy’ doesn’t get identified either, even when he/she is arrested,” said the department.
According to the press release, Orange Police Department averages 10 domestic violence calls a month, which go unreported in police logs due to the Act. The victims of the violence are able to obtain a restraining order at the court house or the police department after hours, and during COVID-19 the police department processed all restraining order applications.