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Australian True Crime

Shortcut: If your abuser is a cop, will the police still protect you?

Australian True Crime

Meshel Laurie

True Crime

4.6979 Ratings

🗓️ 16 September 2023

⏱️ 21 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This is a "Shortcut" episode. It’s a shortened version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed. 


Mary (not her real name) is a recently retired Victoria Police officer.


Mary's husband and father of her two children committed serious family violence for many years. He was also a Victoria Police officer - a very high ranking one.


Mary joins us to tell us about the attempts she and her children have made to have their allegations of family violence fully investigated by Victoria Police.


In 2021, Victoria Police announced the formation of a specialist unit to investigate cases of family violence involving its own employees. It was placed within the existing Ethical Standards Command, which investigates complaints against police.


Despite this, as you'll hear in this episode, there are still serious concerns in the way that Victoria Police handles their offending members.


We are also joined by Jeremy King, the Principal Lawyer and head of the Police Misconduct team at Robinson Gill.


Victoria Police have issued a statement in response to this episode's conversation. It can be viewed on the Australian True Crime Facebook page.


For Support: 


Lifeline  on 13 11 14


13 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)


1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732


CREDITS:

Host: Meshel Laurie. You can find her on Instagram 

Guest: Mary (not her real name) and Jeremy King

Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard


GET IN TOUCH:


Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook 

 

Email the show at [email protected]

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/australiantruecrime.

Become a subscriber to Australian True Crime Plus here: https://plus.acast.com/s/australiantruecrime.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

We're bringing Australian True Crime live to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne this July,

0:04.3

and I have to tell you that Brisbane sold out already.

0:07.4

Good for you, Brisbane, so we've quickly added a second show.

0:10.3

Now we can't keep adding more shows, so please make sure you get your tickets. Our special guests,

0:15.2

our forensic criminologist Santee Mallet in Brisbane and Sydney and the one and only Charlie Bazzina in

0:19.9

Melbourne. There'll be a Q&A of course so you can ask your own burning questions on the night but you have to book quickly.

0:26.0

This is a true crime podcast as the title suggests.

0:29.0

So please consider this your warning that it's not suitable for children and it probably will

0:33.8

contain content that may be triggering to some people. Also it's an Australian

0:38.3

true crime podcast so Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

0:41.9

listeners should be aware it may contain the voices of deceased people.

0:47.0

The producers of this podcast recognize the traditional owners of the land on which it's recorded.

0:59.0

They pay respect to the Aboriginal elders past, present and those emerging.

1:07.0

In 2021, Victoria Police announced the formation of a specialist unit to investigate cases of family

1:18.2

violence involving its own employees.

1:21.4

It was placed within the existing ethical standards command, which investigates complaints against police.

1:27.0

The unit consisted of 11 dedicated officers, with a remit to investigate the most serious and complex allegations, as well as overseeing

1:35.8

all family violence cases involving officers across Victoria.

1:40.4

It was an Australian first, but not Vicpol's first attempt at stamping out corruption around assaults committed by officers. In 2014, they set up task force sailors to investigate allegations of sexual harassment or assault

1:53.8

against current and former Victorian police personnel.

1:57.0

It's since been renamed the Sexual Offences and Family Violence Unit or Sophu, and you'll be hearing a bit about it today,

2:04.8

although I'm sad to say it won't be particularly positive.

...

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