‘Special victims’ role planned for fledgling police unit
POLICE Commissioner Grant Stevens wants a fledgling branch within SA Police to start taking on the state’s most serious, complex domestic violence cases.
POLICE Commissioner Grant Stevens wants a fledgling branch within SA Police to start taking on the state’s most serious, complex domestic violence cases.
He has also warned that women are enduring an average of 35 violent attacks before finally leaving an abusive partner.
The SA Police Family Violence Branch was announced two years ago to improve the response to domestic violence cases through better policies and training.
Mr Stevens has told The Advertiser he wants to “substantially” expand the small unit to start taking on the most complex and serious cases, in the same way the force deals with serious sex crimes.
“I see the responsibilities for that branch growing ... over the next 12 to 18 months,” he said.
“I think there’s an opportunity for us to start to categorise those family violence matters, in the more complex ones, to be managed by a centralised branch, a bit like we do with sexual crimes investigations.”
Currently, a “handful” of Family Violence Branch officers work on policy development, training and monitoring performance.
SA Police attend more than 18,000 domestic-violence related incidents each year.
Three officers from the Family Violence Branch have been permanently seconded to a new Women’s Safety Services SA hub, which brings together police, Correctional Services officers and frontline crisis counsellors to help victims leave abusive relationships.
Mr Stevens said some people were “very reluctant to go to police stations” to report family violence and the new hub provided a less intimidating environment to seek help.
“We know that some people go through 35 instances of violence before they even start to think about coming forward,” he said.
“It’s often the case that some people aren’t ready for police intervention ... it’s still a secret (for them).
“(But) I think people are having more confidence in the system now to come forward and tell their stories, knowing that appropriate action will be taken and we’re going to do something to protect them.”
Mr Stevens last week revealed a major restructure of SA Police, which focuses services across four metropolitan zones.
He said the restructure would also increase capacity to respond to domestic violence call-outs.
The Family Violence Branch was established following a comprehensive internal review of police practices in the wake of the murder of Zahra Abrahimzadeh by her estranged husband.
Mrs Abrahimzadeh and her three children — Atena, Arman and Anita — suffered prolonged violence at the hands of Zialloh Abrahimzadeh.
The family’s case is an example of the kind of case which could be overseen in future by the dedicated police branch.