Police officers in the Torres Strait Islands have avoided applying for domestic violence protection orders even after observing victims’ “swollen faces”, “black eyes” and need for hospitalisation, according to an internal intelligence report that found deaths were “likely”.
Victims who sustained injuries after having cars driven into them, or had received threats of violence, were referred to domestic violence services with no further action taken, “heightening the risk of … fatal consequences,” the report said.
The report, written by an intelligence officer based in the far north region last year, was referenced during a hearing of the commission of inquiry into Queensland police (QPS) responses to domestic violence on Thursday.
It listed 18 examplesfrom police records, which raised concerns about the adequacy of officers’ responses to domestic violence in the Torres Strait region.
The report said it took eight months for some respondents to be served with domestic violence protection orders, and found officers had failed to charge perpetrators with criminal offences in some cases.
There was a “frequency and severity” of violence in the region, with non-physical acts of domestic violence not given “enough weight”, according to the report.
The report said there was a misconception by officers that further violence is likely to be a “minimal risk” to victims and that death threats were not domestic violence.
The assistant commissioner of the Queensland Police Service, Brian Codd, said the report was “terribly concerning” and he had contacted both the Crime Intelligence Command and Far North District to make inquiries.
“I’ll give an absolute commitment that I’ll be following up… how it’s been dealt with and what substance there is to go a step further,” Codd said.
“An intelligence assessment that goes through several levels of scrutiny… If it was to contain allegations or suspicions of our officers not complying with their duty, or failing in their duty or misconduct, [we] are obliged to take action.”
The inquiry heard the officer-in-charge at Thursday Island disagreed with several elements of the report, saying the intelligence officer who wrote it had “no background experience in DV”.
However, counsel assisting the inquiry, Ruth O’Gorman, questioned the relevance of his experience if the summaries of police records were correct.
Codd was also asked about an email sent to officers last year by Queensland police commissioner, Katarina Carroll, in which she said she did not support the commission of inquiry.
He defended the commissioner’s comments, saying: “I think the notion was that we have so many things underway at the moment … the Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce has all these observations it made and a number of submissions very similar to what’s been laid in the commission of inquiry.”
“We’re doing a whole heap of work to try and correct that.”
Codd acknowledged much more work needed to be done to improve responses to domestic violence incidents and address cultural issues within the force.
“I think we’re getting better at it. But we’ve got a long, long way to go particularly around being manipulated, allowing our own biases to perhaps inform us,” he said.
”We can’t be just looking for the cowering female sitting in the corner. That’s not how it manifests itself.”
• 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.
