Police in South Australia have made 80 arrests in July during their first dedicated anti-domestic abuse operation. Police attended nearly 400 addresses targeting more than 260 known offenders.
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00:00This action, named Operation Storm, was carried out by South Australian officers last month.
00:07They targeted 265 known offenders and attended almost 400 addresses and as you mentioned,
00:13it resulted in 80 arrests being made in just that one month alone.
00:18It also included 148 charges being laid, a number of intervention orders being issued
00:23and dozens of referrals to offender rehabilitation services.
00:28Police say the alleged offences were wide ranging and included breaches of bail and
00:33intervention orders, aggravated assault, stalking, strangulation and unlawful imprisonment.
00:39Police here say that this is the first statewide and dedicated anti-domestic abuse operation
00:45in South Australia.
00:47Deputy Commissioner Linda Williams says that the prevalence of domestic violence in South
00:51Australia shows the need to crack down harder on perpetrators as well as send a warning
00:56to would-be offenders.
00:58Let's take a listen.
00:59What I can say is in 22-23, the rate of domestic abuse might as reported to SEPA was over 22,000.
01:08That is increasing, that is of concern, but as I say, one of the indicators may be a confidence
01:14in reporting, but we have to work hard to gain that confidence because we do understand
01:19it takes some victims approximately seven attempts to come forward and report matters
01:25to police.
01:26Now, the announcement of these results comes after a weekend of rallies calling for the
01:30eradication of domestic family and sexual violence across the country.
01:35And there's been a renewed focus on domestic violence here in South Australia following
01:39the violent deaths of four women in the space of just one week in November.
01:43Those deaths led to calls for a Royal Commission and South Australia launched an inquiry back
01:48in June.
01:49Now, police say that the core aims of Operation Storm are for the prevention of violence and
01:54the protection of victims, and this focus is now expected to be an ongoing part of police
01:59operations here in South Australia moving forward.