More than 130 of the Queensland Police Service's (QPS) domestic and family violence specialists will come together in Brisbane this week to discuss the latest research and response to one of the most complex issues experienced in our society.
The three day Vulnerable Persons Policing Conference, the first of its kind under the QPS' new Domestic, Family Violence and Vulnerable Persons (DFV&VP) Command, will feature domestic and family violence leaders from around Australia including DV Connect, Red Rose Foundation, Queensland University of Technology, University of Wollongong, New South Wales Police Force and Victoria Police.
Assistant Commissioner Brian Codd said the conference was a chance for the officers to hear from academics, service providers, other police jurisdictions and their peers to discuss the complexities and best practice response to domestic and family violence.
"Domestic and family violence is an incredibly complex issue and the role the QPS plays in responding to these incidents is examined with great interest both internally and externally," Assistant Commissioner Codd said.
"As we talk more openly about this issue, we are seeing the demand increase. Last year, the QPS responded to more than 107,000 occurrences - that's one every five minutes - and we are now estimating that around 40 per cent of a front line officer's time is spent attending to jobs that encompass elements of domestic and family violence.
"Events like this are so important, as they present an opportunity for us to come together and hear from leading academics and DFV experts to discuss the latest research and look at what we can do as a service to enhance our response and ensure that victims are at the forefront."
Assistant Commissioner Codd said the DFV&VP Command was focused on continually learning to identify ways that the QPS can best respond to and prevent DFV within the community.
"We have connections with some incredible experts who are on the front line of this issue from a policing, academic and victim support point of view," he said.
"This is a very complicated and constantly evolving issue that affects so many in our community, so it's very important for our officers to be able to hear directly about the latest research, initiatives and best practice when it comes to responding to incidents, supporting victims and holding perpetrators to account.
"As a Service, we are absolutely committed to continuous learning in this space and this conference is just one of the ways that we are doing this. We are always proactively reviewing processes and procedures to ensure our response protects victims and holds perpetrators to account.
"I am very proud of the work of our officers and to work alongside some incredible leaders in this space to prevent, disrupt, respond to and investigate domestic and family violence."
