MONTGOMERY — Domestic abuse crisis calls are increasing in Alabama and some police departments report slight decreases in other criminal activity as people are told to stay at home to slow down the spread of COVID-19.

The YWCA Central Alabama shelter in Birmingham said it has received roughly double the number of calls to its crisis hotline on the weekend of March 20-21 compared to the average weekend.

Domestic abuse shelters around the state haven’t seen a dramatic increase in the number of people seeking shelter but expect they will as people in already abusive relationships are isolated in their homes longer.

“I don’t think that that’s a secret for anybody,” said Tay Knight, the executive director of the Family Sunshine Center in Montgomery. “When you put people in these situations, where they are isolated, where there are other stressors like maybe loss of employment or reduction in employment and things get tight from a financial perspective, that it is likely to just make the situation worse,” Knight said. Read more.