DV offenders banned from dating apps and forced to share passwords

Domestic violence offenders could be dealt control orders similar to those used for organised crime and bikies under sweeping changes proposed by the Queensland Police Union.

The measures would be aimed at keeping women safe.

Domestic violence offenders would be forced to share their device passwords and have their movements tightly controlled, under sweeping changes proposed by the Queensland Police Union.

Police officers should also be able to use rapid response video calls to respond to non-urgent mid-level domestic violence call-outs to save thousands of hours of frontline work, if perpetrators have left scenes and victims are not at risk.

The push from the union – as part of its five-pronged DV Blueprint reform proposal – comes as officers attend about 200,000 domestic violence occurrences a year, with each job generally taking between four and six hours.

“I want repeat domestic violence offenders treated on par with some of the worst criminals in society,” Queensland Police Union president Shane Prior told The Courier-Mail.
The union has proposed that control orders be placed on the worst high-risk domestic violence offenders similar to NSW laws for organised crime figures and bikies, which would restrict associations with people, stop them from having certain things and restrict where they go and who they communicate with.

Queensland Police Union President Shane Prior, Brisbane. Picture: Liam Kidston

They’d also be banned from using online dating platforms and attending nightclubs.

The proposed control orders would also require offenders to hand over similar details as registered sex offenders including their email addresses and passwords, and allow police to access their mobile phones and electronic devices.

It would apply to people with two or more orders against them within a five-year period involving different partners; or any person convicted of strangulation; or a person deemed to be a “controlled perpetrator” by the courts.

The scheme would operate with the already announced GPS tracking for the state’s worst offenders to ensure they complied.

Mr Prior, who has headed the union since last year, told The Courier-Mail the current system did little to curb the “appalling behaviour of serial offenders”.

“Domestic violence often robs a victim of their ability to feel safe so it’s only fair an offender should have their liberties restricted,” he said.

“High-risk offenders should be treated legally like pedophiles and outlaw bikies. That should include being forced to wear GPS trackers, refused entry to nightclubs, unable to access online dating platforms, allow police to inspect their phones and computers without notice to detect stalking offences and reporting their relationship status.

“Weapons licences should immediately be suspended on arrest for a DV offence and then automatically cancelled if the person is convicted of a DV offence even if the court decides not to record a conviction.”

The push includes being forced to wear GPS trackers.

The union said the rapid response video response system would allow officers to engage with victims virtually, in non-urgent situations, replicating what the frontline already does.

A trial by the Kent Police in the United Kingdom which uses the model found response times for high-priority family violence cases reduced from a mean average of 32hrs and 49 minutes, to just three minutes.

In that model, when an abuse victim calls their emergency 999 number, a rapid video response dispatcher can be connected in a live video call with them, if they meet their criteria.

As previously revealed in The Courier-Mail, the union is also campaigning for an offence of “commit domestic violence”.

The union is also campaigning for an expansion of body worn camera video as evidence in chief for court proceedings after it was successfully trialled in Gold Coast and Ipswich districts.

The union has also proposed a stand-alone Commissioner of Domestic Violence and that the Police Minister takes over administrative responsibility for the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act to streamline processes.

A spokeswoman for Police Minister Dan Purdie said the government was examining all measures to protect victims and prevent domestic violence and the minister was working with Minister for Domestic Violence Amanda Camm on DV reform.

“The Crisafulli Government is committed to ensuring that our police have the laws, policies, and procedures they need to keep vulnerable people safe,” she said.

Originally published as DV offenders banned from dating apps and forced to share passwords