Coen project shines at QPS Domestic Violence Awards
Chief Superintendent Brett Schafferius with S/Constable Derek Hicks and Inspector Paul James
Reducing the incidence of domestic violence in communities throughout the state always remains a priority for police.
Like all towns and cities across Australia, the Cape York Peninsula township of Coen is not immune from the issues of domestic violence.
The very nature of domestic violence means that there are numerous factors that can influence or contribute to the issue, and identifying these factors can assist with reduction strategies.
With this in mind, Coen police formulated a plan to help them identify some of the causal factors of domestic violence within their local area.
Working in partnership with the Coen Justice Group and the Department of Housing and Public Works, the 2016-2017 Coen Social Housing Survey and Report project was launched last year.
The project canvassed 42 public housing dwellings in the township and resulted in the identification of several common contributing factors to domestic violence.
One that stood out in particular was the issue of overcrowding. On the basis of anecdotal evidence over several years, police had suspected there may have been issues with overcrowding and survey clearly confirmed that to be the case, finding over 41% of of the dwellings were subject to overcrowding issues.
The survey also highlighted the need for maintenance works to be undertaken at several properties to bring them up to standard and improve the living conditions for the residents.
Armed with this information, the partner agencies arranged for upgrades and maintenance to existing homes, as well as approvals for the construction of seven additional dwellings for the town.
386 repairs were subsequently carried out to existing housing, and several dwellings were upgraded as a direct result of the findings of the survey.
The success of the 2016-2017 Coen Social Housing Survey and Report project was felt almost immediately throughout the community, with the overcrowding figure falling dramatically.
Since the inception of the project, Coen Police have also reported a 40 per cent reduction in the incidence of domestic violence order breaches for the local area.
Project Author, Senior Constable Derek Hicks said that the Coen Social Housing Survey and Report project had netted other improvements as well.
“With the community response identifying overcrowding as one of the causal factors of domestic and family violence, the project has been able to directly address those situations, resulting in improved living conditions for Coen’s social housing tenants,” Senior Constable Hicks said.
“The future certainly brings exciting opportunities for further collaborative efforts between our partner agencies.
“We’re now working towards the Coen Safe House/ Domestic Violence Project which will provide a safe location and refuge for the victims of Domestic Violence.”
The project was recently recognised at the 2017 QPS Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Awards in Brisbane where it received a ‘Highly Commended’ distinction in the Partnership Awards category. Far North District Officer, Chief Superintendent Brett Schafferius was on hand to accept the award.
Mr Schafferius and Cape Patrol Group Inspector Paul James recently travelled to Coen to acknowledge the great work of Senior Constable Hicks, as well as Mr Rhys Gardiner from the Coen Community Justice Group and Mr Paul Pratt from the Department of housing and Public Works, in driving the project.
The occasion was also an opportunity to present Senior Constable Hicks with his farewell plaque, after three years of commitment to policing the Coen division.
Derek and his family will soon be transferring to Mareeba, and his supervising Inspector Paul James will be sad to see him go.
“Derek’s work overall at Coen has been excellent, and his inclusive approach to policing has been demonstrated across his term by establishing excellent relationships with local stakeholders,” Inspector James said.
“This award is the perfect example where those people have identified a problem, worked through it together towards a solution and come up with actions that have benefited the community as a whole,” Inspector James said.
Source: Cairns Crime Alert
