Domestic and family violence (DFV) wasn't a part of everyday life for Acting Sergeant Alicia McKeering when she was growing up.
When she became a police officer 14 years ago, it came as a shock to realise her version of 'normal' family life was not the same for everyone.
"It was pretty confronting to see families living with fear and violence. I wanted to do something to help and felt this was an area within policing where I could offer more," Acting Sergeant McKeering said.
"I had a couple of mentors who were DFV Liaison Officers during the early years of my policing career and I genuinely saw the opportunity to make a real difference in victims' lives."
Acting Sergeant McKeering is now part of a six-member team of DFV Coordinators whose job is to provide an overview of all calls for assistance that encompass an element of DFV.
Working shifts to provide 24/7 coverage, the DFV Coordinators are part of the recently established Domestic, Family Violence and Vulnerable Persons Command, but are physically located within the Brisbane Police Communications Centre.
Although all six coordinators are based in Brisbane, they have visibility of every job coming in across the state in real time.
Acting Sergeant McKeering said their job was to support the responding officers by providing additional in-depth analysis of the level of risk to ensure victims received the best possible resolution and perpetrators were held accountable for their offending.
"Our officers are strapped responding to multiple call-outs every day, and they may not have time to be doing in-depth background checks on the way to a job. We're there to make sure they know what they are heading into and who they are dealing with," she said.
"We also review all DFV jobs and often liaise directly with officers with the end goal of ensuring a thorough risk assessment has been conducted when responding to calls for service.
"Having a team of highly experienced DFV Coordinators overviewing jobs means we're in a better position to identify patterns of escalating behaviour. It's like a quality assurance overlay, with us providing additional information, support and guidance to police to ultimately improve outcomes for the victims."
DFV Coordinators are usually kept busy, having input into between six and 10 jobs a day. In the course of a shift they could be liaising with multiple agencies, including interstate jurisdictions, to conduct risk assessments.
The role doesn't stop there-when not responding to a 'hot job', they are reviewing the overall QPS response and identifying areas for improvement.
"Working with DFV can be a thankless job," Acting Sergeant McKeering said.
"But we are making a difference. Over the years that I've been working in this field, legislation has changed and we have improved our information sharing and working relationships with our partner agencies. There are plenty of 'good news' stories happening every day," she said.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic and family violence, you should report it to police.
Support and counselling is available from the following agencies:
- DVConnect Womensline: 1800 811 811
- DVConnect Mensline: 1800 600 636
- 1800 RESPECT: 1800 737 732
More information is also available from the Queensland Government Domestic and Family Violence portal.
