Perth Voice Interactive

BAYSWATER police officers are taking on counsellor-like roles and becoming “more intrusive” in people’s lives in a bid to tackle domestic violence.

Acting police officer-in-charge Ross Whitmore says his team has changed tactics to deal with a rising number of reports, and says an “out-of-sight, out-of-mind” attitude does nothing to help affected families.

Latest statistics show domestic assault reports for the central metropolitan district (which covers Bayswater) rose from 152 to 207 in the year to September. Threatening behaviour—which Mr Whitmore linked to domestic violence and assault—almost doubled from 66 to 105.

But don’t be alarmed, he says, because it’s better to acknowledge the issue and get it reported than keep it behind closed doors. “It’s not a negative, it’s actually a positive when you look at it,” he says. “That figure there is because we’ve become more intrusive on people’s daily lives. We take a two-pronged approach.

“You go in there and look at the criminal aspect to it but you also look at social side of it. We now find ourselves trying to be counsellors.

“So you go in there and have a look at the family unit as a whole and try to find out what the driving forces for it are. Usually…a lot of it boils down to money and living arrangements, and the weight of those day-to-day pressures.”

He says officers liaise with agencies such as the Salvation Army and child protection services because “it’s too hard to deal with it…alone”.

“To outsiders, it looks like an intrusive police style but we don’t look it like that,” he says.

“We see it as caring. You do show your human side and show children police don’t just come in for an arrest…to take mum and dad away.

“What we’ve been doing more of over the past year or so, but specifically this year, is identify people and areas, and what we call ‘problem families’.”

He says station officers keep track of 10 to 16 families, most of which are blended and have low-socio-economic backgrounds.

He told the Voice about an incident which played out on Monday last week.

“There was a violent argument and assault,” he says. “So there was hitting and veiled threats like, ‘I’m going to hurt you if you don’t do this’.”

Many callers who report domestic violence to the station and relevant helplines are friends of a troubled family, neighbours and children, he says.

He commends a 16-year-old boy for recently contacting the station about a situation at home, saying all youngsters should know when to call for help and say enough is enough.

by EMMIE DOWLING