❓ Ms McGurk asks about the number, allocation, and location of additional police officers in the Kimberley following a press release on a joint response to family violence. The Minister acknowledges the seriousness of domestic violence but doesn't provide exact figures, promising clarification later.
AnsweredQoN 849Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
POLICE — DOMESTIC VIOLENCE —
KIMBERLEY
849. Ms S.F. McGURK to the Minister for
Police:
I refer to Minister Morton's
press release, dated 1 October 2015, on the Kimberley joint response to family
violence, in which it is said that there will be additional police officers.
(1) How many officers will be added?
(2) Will those additional officers
be 100 per cent allocated to family violence issues?
(3) Where will the additional
officers be located?
KIMBERLEY
849. Ms S.F. McGURK to the Minister for
Police:
I refer to Minister Morton's
press release, dated 1 October 2015, on the Kimberley joint response to family
violence, in which it is said that there will be additional police officers.
(1) How many officers will be added?
(2) Will those additional officers
be 100 per cent allocated to family violence issues?
(3) Where will the additional
officers be located?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(3) I
thank the member for the question on our domestic violence response in the
Kimberley. For members' interest, domestic violence in Western
Australia last year accounted for more than 45 000—in fact, nearly 46 000—calls
for police assistance, which is 7.7 per cent of all the calls for assistance
from police. It is a really serious issue; it is an issue that the police are
very focussed on.
With respect to the specific number
of additional number of officers going into the Kimberley, I cannot remember
the exact number. I think it is around 20, but I would need to clarify that for
the member for Fremantle. I am happy to give that specific number. Those
additional police officers are going to be located to the district, and so they
will be located to the district office to work across the Kimberley district in
areas such as youth crime, family and domestic violence and a range of other
issues.
Ms
M.M. Quirk : It is not 100 per cent family violence.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : The member for Girrawheen could ask a question if she wanted
to, but I would like to answer the member for Fremantle's question.
Mr
P.B. Watson interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Albany!
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : Some of the other changes that will be coming to regional
Western Australia as we roll out our reform model in regional Western Australia
will look at how our response teams should work specifically. We are looking at
specific improvements around the victim support area, specifically in the area
of family and domestic violence. We have been doing a lot of work to try to
upskill some of our officers to deal with family and domestic violence
situations. As has been the case from 2012–13, there has been a marked
increase in the number of incidents of domestic violence reported by WA Police,
which is a direct result of the government's change in reporting and
incident management around domestic violence offences, so that we can better
capture what is happening with family and domestic violence and ensure that
there is an appropriate follow-up of local policing teams and domestic violence
specialists in response to a call for assistance that may have been made for
police to attend.
thank the member for the question on our domestic violence response in the
Kimberley. For members' interest, domestic violence in Western
Australia last year accounted for more than 45 000—in fact, nearly 46 000—calls
for police assistance, which is 7.7 per cent of all the calls for assistance
from police. It is a really serious issue; it is an issue that the police are
very focussed on.
With respect to the specific number
of additional number of officers going into the Kimberley, I cannot remember
the exact number. I think it is around 20, but I would need to clarify that for
the member for Fremantle. I am happy to give that specific number. Those
additional police officers are going to be located to the district, and so they
will be located to the district office to work across the Kimberley district in
areas such as youth crime, family and domestic violence and a range of other
issues.
Ms
M.M. Quirk : It is not 100 per cent family violence.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : The member for Girrawheen could ask a question if she wanted
to, but I would like to answer the member for Fremantle's question.
Mr
P.B. Watson interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Albany!
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : Some of the other changes that will be coming to regional
Western Australia as we roll out our reform model in regional Western Australia
will look at how our response teams should work specifically. We are looking at
specific improvements around the victim support area, specifically in the area
of family and domestic violence. We have been doing a lot of work to try to
upskill some of our officers to deal with family and domestic violence
situations. As has been the case from 2012–13, there has been a marked
increase in the number of incidents of domestic violence reported by WA Police,
which is a direct result of the government's change in reporting and
incident management around domestic violence offences, so that we can better
capture what is happening with family and domestic violence and ensure that
there is an appropriate follow-up of local policing teams and domestic violence
specialists in response to a call for assistance that may have been made for
police to attend.
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