POLICE must do more to tackle the "significant problem" of domestic violence, Humberside's police and crime commissioner has said.
Matthew Grove told a conference about domestic abuse that the force is determined to reduce the number of cases in Hull.
The force was criticised for the way it deals with domestic violence in a report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), published earlier this year.
In 2013, Humberside Police received 6,252 reports of domestic violence.
Mr Grove said the force had developed an action plan following the HMIC report to tackle the problem.
He said: "It is absolutely vital police continue to improve their response. Very often, these are serious crimes.
"Using the term domestic abuse almost sanitises it. We are often talking about what is domestic grievous bodily harm, domestic attempted murder, domestic rape. That is the reality of it."
The HMIC said the force had an "inconsistent and fragmented" approach and may be underestimating the level of risk faced by some repeat victims.
Mr Grove said: "We already have an action plan to try to improve, but the reassuring thing about it is we had already identified many of the areas for improvements ourselves that the HMIC did.
"We are doing reasonably well. We are improving, but we know we have got to do more work."
He also praised services, including the Hull Domestic Abuse Partnership (DAP), Women's Aid and Strength To Change, which help and support victims.
"I wanted to thank everyone at the conference and tell them to keep up the good work," he said.
The conference was arranged by the Hull Domestic Abuse Forum and included talks by Professor David Gadd, who has researched why boys grow up to become perpetrators of domestic violence, and Dr Caroline Miles, who spoke about teenagers who assault their parents.
Conference chair Vicky Burton said Hull DAP dealt with 2,328 female victims of domestic violence last year.
She said: "We know those numbers, and the numbers that contact the police, are just the tip of the iceberg.
"It is a fairly significant problem in Hull, but there are excellent services out there for female victims, male victims and for male perpetrators of abuse, which is really unusual."
The conference, which included a number of workshops, was held at the Mercure Hull Royal Hotel in Ferensway, city centre, yesterday.
