General News
9 June, 2024
Hundreds arrested in statewide anti-family violence operation
A total of 554 people were arrested earlier this month during a four-day operation that targeted the State’s most dangerous domestic and family violence offenders, NSW Police have reported.
Every police area command and district across NSW participated in Operation Amarok VI, which ran from May 15 to 18. A total of 1070 charges were laid as a result of the operation and, significantly, 226 of those arrested were wanted by police for serious domestic violence offences.
Minister for Police and Counter-terrorism, Yasmin Catley, said that Operation Amarok sent a strong message to perpetrators of domestic and family violence. “These results show how seriously the NSW Police Force takes domestic and family violence — this abhorrent behaviour is not tolerated,” Ms. Catley said. “Anyone who commits this heinous crime can expect a knock at their door,” she added.
The Domestic and Family Violence Registry led the operation, which also involved officers from each region’s Domestic Violence High-Risk Offenders Team (DVHROT), specialist officers from Raptor Squad, Youth Command, Traffic and Highway Patrol Command, and the Police Transport Command.
But Operation Amarok VI is just one part of the police response to what has become a scourge on our society. Last year, almost 150,000 calls for assistance were made to the NSW Police on domestic violence-related matters.
Deputy Commissioner Peter Thurtell, Executive Sponsor for Domestic and Family Violence with NSW Police, said the results of Operation Amarok VI demonstrated the Force’s commitment to tackling domestic violence and arresting offenders. “NSW Police officers respond to incidents of domestic and family violence every single day, and Operation Amarok enables police statewide to conduct a targeted blitz of those who have been flagged as the worst domestic violence offenders,” DC Thurtell said. “These offenders pose a significant threat to their victims, as well as family members and the wider community,” he added.
The Deputy Commissioner said the operation demonstrated that police have been able to target and arrest the offenders no matter where they were located. “We saw significant arrest numbers in our regional communities, and we also saw arrests for offences that occurred allegedly while the offender was in jail,” he said. “These Amarok VI results send a powerful message to offenders and the community at large that we do not tolerate domestic and family violence in any form, and our efforts will continue,” DC Thurtell concluded.
Other results from Operation Amarok VI include the engagement of 548 offenders classified as dangerous; 122 Firearm Prohibition Order compliance searches, 1277 bail compliance checks conducted with 144 breaches detected, and 422 Apprehended Domestic Violence Orders served.
