Victoria Police is targeting more than 3000 wanted family violence perpetrators and holding them to account in a new major statewide operation.
Operation Enforceable – an initiative of Victoria Police’s Family Violence Command – will have specialist units from across the force unite to proactively target and apprehend perpetrators known to actively avoid police detection or who have outstanding warrants or unserved family violence intervention orders (IVO) to ensure the safety of victim-survivors.
Frontline Police, Family Violence Investigation Units and the Family Violence Taskforce will lead the operation, with support from the Public Order Response Team, VIPER Taskforce and Intelligence and Covert Support Command Proactive Targeting Teams. It’s the first time an operation of this kind has taken place.
Of the perpetrators, more than 1100 have outstanding warrants, more than 750 have outstanding whereabouts and more than 640 have an unserved family violence IVO. More than 500 have other outstanding enforceable actions, such as bail compliance, DNA orders and fingerprint identification files.
Most of the perpetrators have been actively avoiding police detection and hold multiple outstanding warrants.
These perpetrators will be of priority throughout the operation, which will run over six days in August and October, and will include apprehending:
• A 35-year-old man with six warrants in relation to stalking and ongoing breaches of three family violence IVOs against three separate victims.
• A 57-year-old man with four warrants for ongoing breaches of family violence IVO conditions, technology-facilitated abuse via texts and phone calls and unlawful assault.
• A 26-year-old man with six warrants for aggravated assault of a victim, contravening a family violence IVO, community correction order conditions, as well as unlicensed dangerous driving and failing to attend court.
• A 50-year-old woman with three warrants for unlawful assault, persistent contravention of family violence IVO conditions and criminal damage; and
• A 34-year-old man with five warrants for persistent contravention of family violence IVO conditions, intentionally damaging property, contravening a community corrections order and threats to inflict serious injury.
Family Violence Command Acting Superintendent Holly Dalrymple said police want victim-survivors to know they can trust police to take action to make sure this violence stops.
“We’re targeting people wanted for family violence crimes across the state and holding them to account through this operation to ensure the safety of victim-survivors,” she said,
“We will be knocking on the doors of these people and will not tolerate their violent crimes in any form.
“The message to family violence perpetrators is clear: closed doors will not protect you from being targeted and held to account – and this operation shows just how serious we are.
If you or someone you know is experiencing or at risk of experiencing family violence, seek help from police or a support service.
Support is available 24 hours a day through Safe Steps by calling 1800 015 188 or emailing safesteps@safesteps.org.au
In an emergency call triple-0 (000). If you can’t get to a phone, ask someone else to do it for you.
