Domestic violence offender praises new police unit working with Sunshine Coast perpetrators
Updated
Jeffery Lecke now admits to being in denial about hitting his wife and says he would likely have breached the domestic violence order (DVO) keeping them apart if not for police from the Sunshine Coast's newly formed vulnerable person unit.
The Queensland unit approached Mr Lecke after he ended up in court for punching his wife.
"When I went to court for the first time I was angry and confused, and in denial still that I'd done anything wrong," Mr Lecke said.
"Once the restrictions were put on I was even more angry."
The vulnerable person unit works with domestic violence (DV) perpetrators in an effort to stop abuse before it spirals out of control, taking officers off frontline duties to work with DV offenders.
Mr Lecke said the unit's officers explained what had happened to him in court and referred him to an agency that could him address his underlying issues.
"If they weren't there, there's a good chance I would have breached my DVO because I was confused," he said.
Mr Lecke said helping perpetrators work through their issues was key to stopping the violence.
"I think [with] more support for guys there, you're definitely going to have a lot less breaches on DVOs," he said.
"They're going to be a lot more aware of what is actually happening and why it's happening."
The new police unit was created by Sunshine Coast officers looking to find a new way to deal with the rise in DV cases.
Last year, 1,806 DVOs were taken out by local authorities and there were 1,128 breaches of those orders.
Officers from the vulnerable person unit engage with about 80 per cent of perpetrators.
They also review and assess the response to all DV incidents that happen on the Sunshine Coast.
Officers aiming to prevent future attacks
Superintendent Darryl Johnson said officers were aiming to stop domestic violence at its source.
"As a policing district we looked at opportunities that would help us prevent domestic violence occurring into the future," he said.
"What we're trying to do here in intervene early before it reaches an act of violence, and then help them get some help to mitigate the risk of that violent act occurring.
"It's certainly a different role for police officers who are normally at that pointy end where we're arresting people and putting them before a court."
Senior Sergeant Carlie Morley is one of the officers working in the unit and said listening was the best approach.
"Once they [perpetrators] are aware that we're actually there to help and assist them — we're not there to lock them up — they're more than willing to accept assistance from us," she said.
The Queensland Government has announced new specialist training would be given to police statewide to better equip officers to deal with DV incidents.
Topics: domestic-violence, community-and-society, family-law, people, police, maroochydore-4558, qld, australia
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