Queensland Faces Month-Long Delays in Domestic Violence Responses

Queensland’s Police Minister, Dan Purdie, and Police Union Boss, Shane Prior, are raising serious concerns after an investigation revealed that some domestic violence cases in Logan have been left unattended for nearly a month.

Leaked police records show that incidents dating back to February 20 were still waiting for a response as of March 18. Even worse, some cases from February 13 hadn’t been attended to by early March. That means victims of domestic violence have been left without help for weeks—sometimes nearly a month.

Why the backlog? Multiple police sources blame it on major staff shortages and legislation that slows down response times.

Purdie isn’t happy about it. “Victims of domestic violence need a rapid response. They should get a rapid response,” he said, adding that police in Logan and other high-crime areas are at a “crisis point.”

And the numbers back him up. On Tuesday morning alone, there were 208 unresourced jobs. Prior called it unacceptable, saying, “We have victims in Logan that are going unanswered because we do not have enough police or resources to go to these jobs. If there are 242 jobs police cannot get to, that exposes victims to a lot of risk, and we need to do better.”

It’s not just domestic violence cases being affected. Police whistleblowers warn that the backlog is impacting response times for all crimes across the district. Officers say cases are being triaged to the point where some incidents only get attended to after multiple triple-zero calls.

But there’s proof that more officers could help. During the response to ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, Logan had 22 extra police cars on the road. And for the first time in a while, frontline officers felt like they were actually making a dent in the backlog.

According to a senior officer, “The number of staff across Logan, Crestmead, and Beenleigh would need to double to get on top of the backlog.”

So, what’s being done? Purdie says the government is committed to adding 1,600 new officers to the Queensland Police Service over the next four years. But whether Logan gets more officers—or how many—will be up to the police commissioner.

“I am committed to ensuring our police in Logan and across Queensland have the backup they need, along with better laws and policies to protect victims of domestic violence and all victims of crime,” Purdie said.

Meanwhile, Queensland Police declined an interview request, only providing a statement—and noticeably not answering the question of whether Logan needs more officers.