Question Without Notice No. 59 asked in the Legislative Council on 15 March 2018 by Hon Robin Chapple
Parliament: 40 Session: 1
POLICE — CRIME STATISTICS — KIMBERLEY REGION
59. Hon ROBIN CHAPPLE to the minister representing the Minister for Police:
I refer to the increased crime rates in Kununurra identified in the FOI documents released by The Guardian in ''Family violence rates rise in Kimberley towns with cashless welfare'' of Friday, 12 January 2018 and question on notice 45 of June 2017.
(1) What has led to this spike in domestic-related assaults and police-attended domestic violence reports, offences against property, theft offences and threatening behaviour offences since April 2016?
(2) What action will the Minister for Police take to address the spike in these offences?
Hon STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question. The following information has been provided to me by the Minister for Police.
(1) Since April 2016, Kimberley district police have taken a proactive approach, in line with organisational expectations, to deal with domestic assaults and supporting vulnerable victims, which has led to higher police response rates and therefore higher domestic violence reporting rates. This proactive response ensures that wherever there is a suggestion of an offence, including threatening behaviour and being committed within a domestic dispute, these are properly identified and recorded.
(2) The Kimberley district is focusing on investigative actions with a view to ensuring high sanction rates are maintained. The Kimberley police district is working with a strong interagency focus on youth through the Kimberley youth offending plan. Additionally, the Kimberley district office has accepted the chair position of this whole-of-Kimberley response to families and juvenile offenders.
Youth crime intervention officers have been implemented in Kununurra to actively work with government and non-government service providers to provide programs for young people, including the Save the Children's Strong Tomorrow program. The Kimberley district office has placed an inspector permanently at Kununurra to help lead and drive cross-government strategies.