One domestic related homicide every two weeks in NSW

Former Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione told the Champion Post NSW Police and the court system are tackling the ‘scourge of a problem’ from a different angle. 

Mr Scipione said domestic violence is heavily under-reported.

“We are seeing domestic violence numbers going up,” he said.

“Some say that’s a good thing because people are actually having the confidence to come forward and say ‘I’m a victim and I’m not going to put up with it anymore’.

“Others say it shows the incidence is increasing.” 

Mr Scipione said domestic violence is the single biggest reason women and children are homeless.

“These are the people we are meant to love and protect and we are simply not doing it,” he said.

“So we’ve come at it a bit differently of late.”

NSW Police are trialing domestic violence targeting teams across rural and metropolitan areas.

“Crime figures across about a dozen categories are down to 20 year lows, but domestic violence – no,” Mr Scipione said.

“We’ve been seeing great results in the trial areas and I think it will spread.”

Police are targeting domestic violence criminals like any other type of criminal.

“We target unashamedly and if they continue to offend, they go to jail because it’s a crime like any other.” 

Mr Scipione said there has been a whole raft of important legislative changes and respective partners can now be checked out. 

Checks can reveal if a person is known to police, if they are violent, or if they are they on a child protection register.

The launch of the Domestic Violence Evidence in Chief (DVEC) program means police at a domestic violence scene are now able to take a statement from the victim on their smart phone which can then be introduced as evidence in court.

“People can turn up to court in a very different state to when they were first interviewed, or they don’t turn up at all, or they withdraw their complaint because they are too scared to go through with it,” Mr Scipione said.

“This way the evidence speaks for itself and courts are making really significant decisions based on that.

“NSW was the first state to get the law changed to do it, and it has certainly reduced the number of failed prosecutions.”