Victoria Police has detected hundreds of family violence offences as it continues its efforts in protecting victims during the coronavirus pandemic.
A state-wide family violence operation dedicated to preventing and reducing family violence involves specialist detectives from the Family Violence Investigation Units checking in regularly with victims and monitoring high-risk perpetrators.
Operation Ribbon, which commenced on 13 April 2020, was set up to prevent the anticipated increase of family violence incidents as people stay at home with limited opportunities to access support.
Since the operation commenced, police have conducted 2433 checks, including 748 compliance checks on high-risk perpetrators and spoken to 1693 affected family members across the state.
During these visits, 780 family violence offences were detected including breaches of intervention order and assault.
This has resulted in 100 people being charged and remanded for family violence related and other criminal offences. A further 98 people were also arrested to appear in court.
Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said the dedicated operation was crucial in ensuring victims were safe during a particularly stressful time.
“While everyone is working together to tackle this global health pandemic, many in our community are experiencing an especially tough time,” CCP Ashton said.
“These results are a tragic reminder that while home is supposed to be the safest place to be, we know for some, it is the most dangerous with people experiencing abuse at the hands of their loved ones.
“This operation is a stern reminder to perpetrators that we are watching and making sure they don’t cause harm.
“You can leave your home if that means you are escaping harm. Police will help you to do this.”
Operation Ribbon will continue during the coronavirus pandemic and into the future.
