Man who stabbed partner among 2700 arrested in southeastern suburb family violence blitz

A man who strangled his female partner in front of her young children was among 2700 family violence offenders arrested in Melbourne’s southeast over six months as police blitz the state’s worst-affected areas.

A family violence offender was arrested every 90 minutes during a six-month blitz cracking down on the state’s most-affected areas.

Victoria Police made nearly 2700 arrests and laid more that 7500 charges relating to serious family violence incidents and breaches between January and the start of June.

A 42-year-old man accused of stabbing a woman and assaulting a teenager, while in the presence of two younger children, was among those arrested.

Another woman was allegedly strangled by her male partner in front of her young children in March, before he was arrested just hours later.

Police also arrested a 44-year-old man after he allegedly threatened his female partner with a machete. She suffered injuries to her hand and the male perpetrator was hit with a series of charges.

Police made nearly 2700 arrests in the six-month blitz. Picture: Victoria Police

Those incidents and subsequent arrests highlight the growing family violence epidemic across the state, particularly in Melbourne’s southeast.

Offenders were targeted across Cardinia, Casey, Frankston, Greater Dandenong and the Mornington Peninsula as those areas are some of the hardest hit.

The Casey area ranked the highest for the number of family violence offences in the past 12 months.

Four of those areas are listed in the top 15 most impacted in Victoria.

Almost 96,000 family violence incidents were recorded in the year ending March 2024, representing a three per cent increase.

The several deaths of women in Victoria, allegedly at the hands of male perpetrators, has in recent months brought the issue well and truly into the spotlight.

There is a growing family violence epidemic across the state. Picture: Victoria Police

Officers recognise the difficulty in reporting family violence offences and have commended those who have called it out.

“While more family reports may sound disheartening, we’re encouraged that it means more people can access help and police have an opportunity to intervene and prevent further harm,”

Mornington Peninsula Insp. Terry Rowlands said.

“We also know the amount of proactive work that family violence detectives are undertaking each day, such as knocking on the doors of known perpetrators and victims, is identifying offending that would otherwise go undetected.”

Police say the number of charges laid reveals how seriously they are treating family violence. Picture: Victoria Police

Greater Dandenong Specialist Investigation and Support Inspector Rod Maroney said the force continued to work tirelessly to hold offenders to account.

“Almost half of our workload relates to family violence, and we have made an enormous number of arrests this year,” he said.

“More than 7500 charges laid against perpetrators shows just how seriously we treat family violence.

“We know that family violence knows no boundaries, however, we also know that these five municipalities are some of the state’s most impacted areas.

“That’s why we have put such a heavy focus on identifying this type of offending and doing everything we can to prevent further harm.”

Originally published as Man who stabbed partner among 2700 arrested in southeastern suburb family violence blitz