NASHUA – The Nashua Police Department is receiving less calls during the coronavirus disease pandemic, including fewer domestic violence-related and Division for Children, Youth and Families letters.

Chief of Police Michael Carignan said that during this period, there has been an overall drop in calls, arrests and sex-related crimes. Data shared with The Telegraph shows comparisons in calls and crime reports from the week of April 23 through April 27 2020, compared with April 2019.

The COVID-19 period is identified as beginning on March 6, with available data running through April 27. During this time period, domestic related calls are reportedly down 10 percent compared to this time frame in 2019. Domestic related arrests for this time frame are down even more, 24 percent in 2020, compared to 52 percent in 2019.

“If I had to guess, I would say that those numbers are under reported, and I believe that those incidents of domestic violence and child neglect and abuse are still going on,” Carignan said.

That is a concern for the department, and police have tried to send out consistent messaging. Carignan said the department has worked together with Bridges: Domestic & Sexual Violence Support to put out messaging with contact numbers. If an individual finds themselves in one of these situations, Carignan encourages them to reach out for help, citing that resources are still available 24/7.

The biggest concern for police is that the calls for DCYF letters and domestic-related incidents are down. Carignan said the COVID-19 situation is so unique and new that it is hard to tell how relationships are internally in people’s homes. Carignan said he knows being cooped up in one particular area can place new stresses on relationships, as well as the stresses that come with potential job loss.

“We’re afraid there are victims out there that aren’t reporting or not able to report,” Carignan said.

In regard to calls for DCYF, Carignan described it as “a pretty dramatic drop.” According to data from the police department, calls for DCYF letters during the COVID-19 period are down 63 percent compared to the same time frame last year. This reflects a total of 46 less calls between March 6 and April 27, 73 for 2019 and 27 for 2020.

Teachers are oftentimes the front-line eyes for police. With schools closed and remote learning in place, teacher’s are not having those regular in-person, face-to-face interactions.

“As far as reporting for DCYF, the concern is that the observations aren’t being made, and the fact that they’re not going out of their houses as much, people aren’t seeing what they would normally see to call,” Carignan said. “I would imagine that’s the same for domestic violence situations.”

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