Police target family violence

By Lilly O’Gorman
CARDINIA Police are ramping up a new approach to tackling family violence in the face of rising incidences across the shire.
Victoria Police released its quarterly crime statistics last Friday which showed a continued rise in assaults within Cardinia Shire – a large proportion related to family violence.
According to the statistics, while assaults excluding family violence had shown a slight decrease between last April and March this year, the total number of assaults had increased 15.8 per cent during the same period.
Inspector Chris Major said Cardinia Police Service Area (PSA) last month launched an initiative dedicated to reducing repeat offences.
“A unit has been established to tackle repeat attendances in Casey and Cardinia PSA,” Insp Major said.
“It is our aim to firstly ensure all appropriate steps are taken when police first attend a report of a family violence incident, including ensuring all parties are provided with referrals to support agencies.”
He said the secnod aim was to ensure any repeat attendances were dealt with as soon as possible.
“Often with the perpetrator being remanded in custody to appear before a court,” he said.
Of the 29 people interviewed at Pakenham Police Station last week, nine were interviewed in relation to family violence offences.
There had also been an increase in crimes against the person Victoria-wide, which Chief Commissioner Ken Lay attributed to increased family violence reports.
“We know family violence-related crime is driving up the statistics overall – victims are increasingly confident and willing to report these matters and that is to be welcomed,” Mr Lay said.
Both Cardinia Shire and the state saw a jump in total number of offences.
“We understand that crime rates are being driven predominantly by family-violence related crime,” Mr Lay said.
“We don’t yet know if societal factors – such as financial pressures generated by the changing economic factors – are also impacting on our total crime.”
Drug offences more than doubled since April last year, increasing by 59 per cent.
Crimes against property and theft of motor vehicles experienced a small increase, while theft from motor vehicles, burglary, property damage, and assault excluding family violence all decreased, with residential burglary dropping 16 per cent.