The head of Queensland’s police union has said there is no “widespread cultural problem” in how officers respond to domestic violence incidents, in a submission made to the state’s commission of inquiry examining the issue.
Ian Leavers, president of the Queensland Police Union since 2009, said “instances of individual failings and shortcomings” were “more likely due to workload pressures or inadequate training” than cultural issues.
“There are still unsatisfactory behaviours and attitudes within the service, as would be found in any large organisation,” Leavers wrote. “Some of the feedback and evidence to this commission of inquiry makes that plain. Importantly though, I suggest that this involves only a very small minority of serving police officers.”
The inquiry was recommended by the state’s women’s safety and justice taskforce last year due to “concerns about deeply ingrained problems in police views and attitudes” towards domestic violence victims.
Over the past five weeks, the inquiry has heard several disturbing allegations such as officers referring to domestic violence as “foreplay” and reports police did not investigate a woman’s suspicious death because she and her husband were “a pair of scumbags who live in a shit area”.
Leavers originally opposed calls for the commission of inquiry, labelling recommendations by the taskforce another “woke, out-of-touch report”. However, in May he said he had changed his mind since giving evidence at the inquest into the death of Hannah Clarke and her three children. He described the inquiry as “an opportunity” to commit to reforms.
Leavers has not been called by the inquiry to appear in person – with other absences including the Queensland police commissioner, Katarina Carroll, and the state’s police minister, Mark Ryan.
In his statement made on 21 July and uploaded to the inquiry’s website late last week, Leavers referred to “the relatively low proportion of complaints” compared with the “enormous number of domestic violence incidents” police attended each year.
He said that domestic violence work, “with its heavy focus [on] dysfunctional and abusive relationships”, may not carry “the same attraction” for officers who had joined the QPS “to engage in the detection and prosecution of crime”.
Leavers also raised concerns about the treatment of officers in the workplace who have been served with temporary domestic violence orders.
He indicated it may be an “overreaction” to immediately stand down an officer and remove their firearm following the temporary order, as it prevents “them from engaging in any operational policing”.
“The workplace consequences that arise for police officers [that are] the subject of a domestic and family violence order are enormous,” Leavers said.
“The fact that they have been stood down and their firearm removed signals to everyone within their station that they are the respondent in domestic and family violence proceedings.”
Leavers said he could understand that “certain temporary conditions may need to be imposed upon such officers” but “it may sometimes be an overreaction for them to be prohibited from operational work altogether simply because of the making of an uncontested order.”
Leavers also defended officers’ treatment of First Nations domestic violence victims, saying police “are overwhelmingly well-intentioned” and “do what they can to avoid the incarceration of First Nations people”.
“Indeed, I would go so far to say that often times First Nations males are not arrested in circumstances where a non-Indigenous person would be, because of this very issue,” he said.
The inquiry has heard several testimonies from advocates and service providers describing police failings, including regular occurrences of First Nations victims being misidentified as perpetrators.
A report from an intelligence officer also said officers in the Torres Strait avoided applying for DVOs even after seeing victims’ swollen faces, black eyes and need for hospital admission.
It listed 18 examples from police records, which raised concerns about the adequacy of officers’ responses to domestic violence in the Torres Strait region.
The inquiry holds its last day of hearings in Mt Isa on Tuesday before its findings are handed down in October.
In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org.
