About 650 people have been charged in a four-day police blitz targeting “dangerous” domestic violence offenders in Australia, police say.
About 1,153 domestic violence, drug and weapons charges were laid during operations in New South Wales last week.
Police also seized an array of illegal items, such as guns, swords and drugs.
Domestic violence is a huge problem in Australia and the police spend more time responding to crime than any other.
Police say 164 of the 648 people charged during “Operation Amarok” last week were among the state’s most wanted domestic violence offenders.
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said some had warrants for their arrests, while others had breached court-issued protection orders – known as Arrested Violence Orders (AVO).
“We were very concerned for the victims so we targeted them,” he said.
“Some of them were hard to find … avoiding the police … that’s why we made this concerted effort.”
Among those charged was a 22-year-old man who police allege choked his partner until she blacked out during an argument.
The other was a 51-year-old man who police have accused of following a woman and planting a tracking device in her car. Police also seized a registered firearm from his home, and his gun license was examined.
And from another property, police recovered two daggers, a double-edged sword and a metal belt and arrested two persons for robbery.
Deputy Police Commissioner Mal Lennon said on Tuesday the force’s new strategy to target high-risk offenders was aimed at stopping violence before it escalated to murder, adding that NSW police had only reported 10 cases of domestic violence last year. 17 murders were answered.
According to the latest national statistics from 2016, one in five Australians has experienced physical or sexual domestic violence since the age of 15. The most common form of violence against women is by men.
The United Nations has said violence against women is “alarmingly common” in Australia, but experts say it is not high among developed countries.
