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MELTON police are being urged to create a dedicated family violence unit after new figures revealed reports of family violence more than doubled during the past year.
Data released by police last week showed the number of domestic assaults recorded increased from 165 in 2010 to 402 in 2011.
Last July, the Weekly reported that Melton police viewed the establishment of a dedicated unit as a high priority.
Family violence adviser Acting Sergeant Julie Reilly said
domestic violence increases in Melton and Wyndham were among the biggest in the state.
“Wyndham police have a designated family violence unit, which is responsible solely for attending all family violence reports,” she said.
“The members who work in this unit are dedicated to investigating family violence and can provide advice to other members.”
Sergeant Reilly said the case for a dedicated unit in Melton was being assessed by senior management.
“Hopefully it will be soon, as this will then relieve the pressure on frontline police.”
Melton’s deputy family violence liaison officer, Chris Hughes, said such a unit would enable better handling of more complex family violence matters.
Melton’s Inspector Mario Fiorentino attributed the significant increase in family violence to the fact that more victims were reporting incidents.
“Police say this is not a bad thing as it is evident that victims have confidence in the system in order to seek and obtain help,” he said.
“Family violence is still one of the most under-reported crimes in the Melton … we encourage people living in fear to come forward.”
But Women’s Health West chief executive Dr Robyn Gregory said the statistics could also reflect an increase in the rate of violence in family homes.
“There is evidence to suggest more reporting is occurring, but we don’t actually know for sure that these statistics reflect that,” she said.
“At Women’s Health West, we are inundated with calls from women from Brimbank, Melton and Wyndham who are struggling at home and need our services.”
She said difficult economic times could lead to increased rates of violence against women and children, particularly in disadvantaged areas.
Other significant increases outlined in last week’s statistics included robbery, up 95.2 per cent, assault (31 per cent) and theft from a motor vehicle (40.2 per cent).
Inspector Fiorentino said many robberies were opportunistic and were occurring near shopping centres and railway stations.
“Money is being taken from vulnerable people, mostly young people travelling alone on foot or using public transport.”
Police are targeting crime hot spot areas such as railway stations and shopping centres to deter offenders.
– With Anthony Loncaric
