Targeting family violence

Dedicated family violence investigators are part of Victoria Police’s reform agenda to target increasing violence, sexual offences and child abuse in the home.

With an increasing trend of family violence reports in the Baw Baw police services area, inspector Chris Major said a dedicated and specially trained investigator would work with the recently established family violence unit based at Warragul.

The reform agenda was unveiled by Victoria Police on Friday and will see 415 dedicated family violence investigators trained and rolled out over the next three years.

From next year, existing family violence units across the state will transition to Family Violence Investigation Units (FVIUs) with dedicated detectives and intelligence practitioners embedded into the teams.

Mr Major welcomed the strategy, saying the statistics in Baw Baw demonstrated the need for a targeted response to family violence.

In the past 12 months, reports of family violence incidents in Baw Baw have increased 13 per cent. Mr Major said this was above the state-wide trend of a 4.2 per cent increase.

However, he said the biggest concern was the number of repeat calls to the same addresses, which had increased nine per cent.

The number of “first-time” family incidents has increased eight per cent.

“Whilst it’s a concern that these incidents are occurring, it’s encouraging that people are coming forward to break the cycle of family violence.

Mr Major said the number of intervention orders had also increased 21 per cent, which showed police were working closely with victims and responding to incidents.

He said statistics showed more people were reporting family violence since the specialised family violence unit began in Warragul in October.

“Based on the statistics it is evident people are coming forward and seeking help.

“It’s positive that people are coming forward to end the cycle of violence but it’s unfortunate these incidents are still occurring in the family home.

“Almost every week someone tragically dies in a family violence situation and that doesn’t take into account the rapes and indecent assaults that occur in family homes,” he said.

Mr Major said the strategy would allow a dedicated investigator to work with Warragul’s family violence unit in targeting family violence and address increasing statistics.

The five year strategic plan released on Friday, “Policing Harm, Upholding the Right” builds on previous work to combat violence against women and children, who are the predominant victims of these crimes.

The strategy unveils a range of initiatives and commitments, set out under four strategic priorities: victim safety, offence and offender management, child safety, and a safe and capable workforce.

Acting Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said the FVIU model would establish an investigative practice for family violence perpetrators.

“Family violence is core business for Victoria Police. Every day and night our members respond to family violence incidents across the state – on average about one every seven minutes. Over the next three years 415 dedicated family violence resources (investigators) will be trained and rolled out to bring a specialist response to family violence crime involving high risk, escalating harm, vulnerable persons and cold cases,” Mr Patton said. Mr Patton acknowledged that Victoria Police had come a long way over the past 15 years in developing and improving its responses to these crime themes.

Anyone wanting to report family violence or seek assistance can contact the Warragul family violence unit (5622 7111) or RESPECT (1800 737732). In emergency situations phone triple zero (000).