By Margaret Maccoll
The Sunshine Coast Vulnerable Persons Unit has achieved great success, reducing the rise in domestic violence rates from 40 per cent to 9 per cent since it began last September.
The team of Senior Sergeant David Bradley and Senior Constables Damien Clark and Mark Jones is reaping rewards from a pilot program being trialled specifically for the region from north of the Maroochydore River to Kin Kin.
They target people who are in what they describe as midline domestic violence situations where perpetrators may have breached a protection order once or twice but are not in high risk or violent categories.
Sen Const Jones said the unit was set up after police decided they had to change the way they dealt with domestic violence.
Intervening early, engaging both victim and perpetrator and changing the behaviour of the perpetrator are the actions forming the basis of the program.
“We review all recorded domestic violence occurrences and identify the underlying issues,” he said.
Drugs, alcohol and mental health are the key causes of domestic violence on the Sunshine Coast with financial stress also a contributor.
The team engage with both victim and perpetrator and refer each to services that can best support them to deal with the underlying issues and avoid situations escalating to a point where violence occurs.
“If they’re thinking of breaching a protection order, they ring us first and we can talk it through with them to prevent that happening,” Sen Const Jones said.
Sen Const Jones said the combined knowledge of the team, including Sen Sgt Bradley’s extensive legal knowledge gleaned from previous work in prosecutions, enabled them to sit down with the people involved and discuss their problems, offer advice and explain their options.
Sen Const Clark said it was phenomenal the assistance that was available in the community and the team were in a position to connect people with those resources.
He said the work in the unit had been “the most rewarding time in (his) police service”.
“We know we are making a small measure of difference,” he said.
