PSNI arrested 19 on ‘Black-eye’ Friday
Last week the Sentinel reported how the number of Altnagelvin A&E admissions on ‘Black Eye Friday’ was 28 per cent higher than the next busiest Friday night during the Christmas party season.
But whilst the health service experienced a busier than normal Friday 20/21, the increase experienced by the local PSNI was less dramatic. During the evening of Friday 20/21 there may have been more arrests (19) than any other weekend in the run up to Christmas but there were more call outs (246 compared with 220) and more police attendances (117 compared with 113) in the city on Friday, December 13/14. Equally, police attended 116 incidents on Friday (November 29/30) and 120 incidents on Friday (December 6/7) - more than the other two weekends. The number of arrests on these two weekends respectively stood at 13 and 16. Thus over the month of December the figures for arrests, calls and attendances were steady.