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Purple Thursday: Communities across the nation bring awareness to domestic violence

Nationally domestic violence rates have increased

DETROIT – Many buildings in Downtown Detroit have taken on various hues of purple in an effort to bring awareness to domestic violence.

Sgt. Kyla Williams is in charge of the domestic violence unit for the Detroit Police Department.

“Today is national Purple Thursday,” she said. “Across the country.”

While nationally, domestic violence has gone up since the coronavirus pandemic started. In Detroit, the numbers have gone down. The domestic violence unit has been assigned 7,510 cases as of October 18. And it has submitted 3,213 cases to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office.

In 2019, the domestic violence unit was assigned 7,960 cases from January through Oct. 20 and submitted 3,711 cases to the prosecutor’s office. Williams believe the drop isn’t because of less violence, but because less people are reporting.

“It could be that some of them are not being reported at this time,” she said.

READ: 12 places domestic violence victims can get help in Metro Detroit

Help us support Domestic Violence Awareness by making a donation. Today our Domestic Violence Patrol Car is located at the intersection of 8 mile and John R. #ProtectAndServe #OurCommunity

Posted by Detroit Police Department on Thursday, October 22, 2020

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