Surge in family violence reports not necessarily a bad sign, says Karratha’s Senior Sergeant Danial Strachan

A surge in family violence reports is not necessarily a bad sign, Karratha’s top cop says, as it means more victims are coming forward to authorities with cases that could otherwise go unreported. Speaking as he marks one year in the top job, Senior Sergeant Danial Strachan, pictured, singled out protection of family violence victims as his No.1 priority. “If we get extra family violence reported, it doesn’t bother me as I’d rather know about it than not because then we’re able to provide those wraparound services to the victims and the families,” he said. “Family violence can be horrible at times, it can be challenging at times, it can be resource-intensive and ultimately, people lose their lives from family violence so anything that we can do, we must do and I think we’re getting better at it.” Sen. Sgt Strachan said there had been 26 cases of family violence since July this year, up 30 per cent compared to this time last year. “We’re listening to the victims, we’re trying multiple times to get statements from them and if we can’t, then we’re trying to be as proactive,” Sen. Sgt Strachan said. “We’re encouraging violence restraining orders to be applied for and, obviously when they are, then we try and serve them as quick as we can.” Sen. Sgt Strachan said there was always room for improvement with the job and urged the community to go directly to him with any concerns.