❓ The Minister for Police outlines initiatives implemented by the WA Police Force to support victims of family and domestic violence (FDV) and hold perpetrators accountable, including dedicated district teams, specialist training for officers, development of codes of practice, and a new monitoring unit.
AnsweredQoN 737Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
POLICE — FAMILY
AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE — INITIATIVES
737. Ms C.M. ROWE to the Minister for Police:
I
refer to the McGowan Labor government's commitment to tackling family
and domestic violence right across WA . Can the minister update the house
on the initiatives the WA Police Force is implementing both to support victims
of family and domestic violence and hold perpetrators to account?
AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE — INITIATIVES
737. Ms C.M. ROWE to the Minister for Police:
I
refer to the McGowan Labor government's commitment to tackling family
and domestic violence right across WA . Can the minister update the house
on the initiatives the WA Police Force is implementing both to support victims
of family and domestic violence and hold perpetrators to account?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Belmont for
the question and for again raising the very important issue of family and
domestic violence with me. Members here may be aware that lots of calls are
made to police each year on domestic violence matters. Members might be stunned
to hear that last year in 2018–19, there were 56 810 calls to police on
family and domestic violence matters. That equates to one call to police every
nine minutes for an FDV matter in the state of Western Australia. I am pleased
to say that we are delivering better under our new policing model with our
eight policing districts. We now have each district equipped with dedicated
officers and teams that compromise, at a minimum, a sergeant and six constables
in each of those districts targeting FDV.
We also received extra money in the
state budget to fund some FDV programs and I am pleased to say that one of
those programs, funded to the tune of $1.7 million, is to make sure that every
police officer in this state gets specialist training on FDV and how to deal
with the victims and handle those situations. That training is starting in the
next couple of weeks and will be rolled out to every police officer in this
state. It is important that police officers are appropriately equipped to deal
with FDV situations when they arise. In addition, $400 000 also formed part of
the budget to develop family violence codes of practice to strengthen the
response to victims. We made a commitment to implement the government's
''Stopping Family and Domestic Violence'' policy as part of our
election commitments. I am very pleased that we were able to get that funding
and police are now putting programs in place to strengthen our frontline
support.
In addition, $5.5 million has been
provided to establish the unit at the police state operations command centre.
That unit will comprise 10 police officers working with Department of Justice
staff to provide around-the-clock monitoring of FDV offences. That will mean
there is extra monitoring and extra information. As those instances arise, that
unit will be able to monitor the calls that are coming in, know who is calling
in, and hopefully know the history, the frequency and a whole range of other
matters connected to that call for assistance. Member for Belmont, I know we
have had many discussions about what we can do better to support victims of
domestic violence. I think this is a major step forward in police training, and
it will make a difference. The officers working alongside the Department of
Justice people at our operations command centre will also make a difference, as
will the establishment of the code of practice.
the question and for again raising the very important issue of family and
domestic violence with me. Members here may be aware that lots of calls are
made to police each year on domestic violence matters. Members might be stunned
to hear that last year in 2018–19, there were 56 810 calls to police on
family and domestic violence matters. That equates to one call to police every
nine minutes for an FDV matter in the state of Western Australia. I am pleased
to say that we are delivering better under our new policing model with our
eight policing districts. We now have each district equipped with dedicated
officers and teams that compromise, at a minimum, a sergeant and six constables
in each of those districts targeting FDV.
We also received extra money in the
state budget to fund some FDV programs and I am pleased to say that one of
those programs, funded to the tune of $1.7 million, is to make sure that every
police officer in this state gets specialist training on FDV and how to deal
with the victims and handle those situations. That training is starting in the
next couple of weeks and will be rolled out to every police officer in this
state. It is important that police officers are appropriately equipped to deal
with FDV situations when they arise. In addition, $400 000 also formed part of
the budget to develop family violence codes of practice to strengthen the
response to victims. We made a commitment to implement the government's
''Stopping Family and Domestic Violence'' policy as part of our
election commitments. I am very pleased that we were able to get that funding
and police are now putting programs in place to strengthen our frontline
support.
In addition, $5.5 million has been
provided to establish the unit at the police state operations command centre.
That unit will comprise 10 police officers working with Department of Justice
staff to provide around-the-clock monitoring of FDV offences. That will mean
there is extra monitoring and extra information. As those instances arise, that
unit will be able to monitor the calls that are coming in, know who is calling
in, and hopefully know the history, the frequency and a whole range of other
matters connected to that call for assistance. Member for Belmont, I know we
have had many discussions about what we can do better to support victims of
domestic violence. I think this is a major step forward in police training, and
it will make a difference. The officers working alongside the Department of
Justice people at our operations command centre will also make a difference, as
will the establishment of the code of practice.
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