Victoria Police grappling with scourge of violence within its ranks

Victoria Police is grappling with a scourge of violence among its ranks, with a bombshell report revealing hundreds of members are being probed over alleged rapes, family violence and sexual harassment.

Victoria Police is grappling with a scourge of sexual violence in its ranks, as hundreds of members are investigated in internal probes over alleged rapes, family violence and sexual harassment.

Legal specialists say the “alarming” figure, detailed in a bombshell document released under Freedom of Information to the Herald Sun, is only a fraction of the more widespread family violence problem with the force.

Victoria Police’s Sexual Offences and Family Violence Unit (SOFVU) has investigated more than 680 of its own officers in the last five years – an average of almost 140 a year and up to three a week.

Several members were on duty when their alleged offences occurred.

At least 90 of the 680 members have been scrutinised over severe family violence allegations.

And it is understood dozens more family violence cases involving police have been investigated by local branches, as the SOFVU only handles the most serious allegations.

Almost 270 of SOFVU’s investigations looked into claims against officers that detailed alleged predatory behaviour, sexual harassment or inappropriate comments.

Victoria Police’s Sexual Offences and Family Violence Unit has investigated more than 680 of its own officers in the last five years.

Meanwhile, 185 of the probes related to alleged sexual assault or child sexual offences.

Several of Victoria’s most prominent injury law firms contacted by the Herald Sun detailed how they were dealing with at least one new claim a week of a police officer allegedly inflicting violence on their partner.

“We represent a number of ex-Victoria Police members with similar allegations which appear to show that the culture at Victoria Police is quite rife with this kind of behaviour,” one lawyer said.

No to Violence chief executive Phillip Ripper said a “protect their own” mentality meant the slew of violent claims levelled against police did not reveal the true extent of family and other types of violence in the force.

“It (Victoria Police) has a deeply entrenched brotherhood culture … When one of its members faces allegations of family violence, there’s a lack of confidence that the existing systems can adequately support the victim-survivor,” he said.

“Family violence in the general community is grossly under reported, but in the police, we believe it to be even more significantly under reported.”

At least 90 members have been scrutinised over more severe family violence allegations.

Victoria Police, which has 21,000 members, has policies that are designed to ensure employees do not receive special treatment while being investigated.

But Mr Ripper said the figures showed the need for an independent unit, separate from SOFVU and local branches, to be set up where officers and their families could report family violence and sexual assault allegations without having to do so at their local stations or in front of colleagues and associates.

“It is particularly challenging for wives and partners of serving police officers to report family violence when they are often living and working in the same community,” he said.

“To walk into your husband’s workplace and to report him as a user of family violence presents significant issues.”

The figures come after the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) earlier this year found that predatory behaviour by police towards colleagues and members of the community remained a major, under-reported issue.

One former officer who has recently launched legal action against Victoria Police alleged they were sexually assaulted and ridiculed with sexualised comments by fellow officers on “countless occasions”.

The figures come as the Victorian community grapples with its own domestic violence scourge. Picture: Diego Fedele

The figures come as the Victorian community grapples with its own domestic violence scourge, which has seen about one woman per month allegedly killed by male perpetrators.

Safe and Equal chief executive Tania Farha said Victoria Police needed to “do better” because gender-based violence affected many other organisations and all parts of the community.

“Given the increased number of family violence related murders, and increasing gender-based violence in our community, it would be great to have a re-commitment from the Chief Commissioner to increase its focus on this issue,” she said.

A Victoria Police spokesman said the number of officers probed showed the force did not tolerate unlawful behaviour and would investigate complaints regardless of an employee’s rank or position.

“No one in Victoria Police is above the law,” he said.

“The authority and responsibility entrusted in our employees means they should be rightly held to a higher standard than the rest of the community both on and off duty.

“The community should have confidence we will not hesitate in taking action against sexual and family violence offending within our organisation.”

Safe and Equal chief executive Tania Farha said Victoria Police needed to “do better”.

SOFVU was set up in 2021 to investigate the most serious cases involving Victoria Police employees accused of family violence, as well as new and historical sexual assault allegations.

It took over from Taskforce Salus, which looked into sexual offences, sexual discrimination, sexual harassment and predatory behaviour committed by Victoria Police employees.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said the number of employees that had been investigated was a ‘significant concern’. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton described the numbers as “alarming”.

The top cop maintained that those who investigated who escaped conviction were still held accountable at a lower standard of proof within the organisation and subjected to a discipline forum.

The figures mean about three per cent of the workforce has been investigated for sexual violence in the past five years.

“When you say you’ve got between 130 and 140 employees you’re investigating on a yearly basis, yes, that’s a significant concern,” Mr Patton said.

“We have moved a long way. We’ve still got offending occurring, don’t get me wrong on that, but we are doing everything we can because we realise this type of offending, it’s abhorrent offending.”

Mr Patton urged victims of violence perpetrated by members of the force to make a report online or over the phone to be referred to the SOFVU.

“This is primarily focused on investigating police and that was why we established it so (that) we could have that expertise, we could build up that confidence for people to be able to report, so that we could make sure we had confidentiality,” he said.

CASES INVESTIGATED BY THE SOFVU:

* Custody officer Maurice Marinucci, 53, allegedly attacked a woman on six different occasions last year so severely he left her with broken bones. It is understood Mr Marinucci is contesting the charges relating to those alleged incidents.

* Senior sergeant Frank Bodor was in 2020 charged with four offences, including assault and recklessly causing serious injury, for allegedly punching and strangling his wife in Clyde North. He has pleaded not guilty and is expected to face trial later this year.

* Simon John Blackney, 51, facing five sexual assault charges over alleged attacks against two women, including touching one woman’s groin without her consent, will return to court in March for a hearing where the evidence against him will be tested.

* First constable Conor McCurley, 27, was last February ordered by a magistrate to make a public apology, pay his victim $7500 in compensation and donate $2500 to a charity of her choice after he accepted responsibility for abusing her for years when he was a teenager.