The police officer in charge of the state's domestic violence investigations has vowed to win back the community's trust, saying the embattled Queensland Police Service (QPS) has entered a "new era".
Assistant Commissioner Brian Codd, who heads up the domestic and family violence and vulnerable persons command, spoke exclusively to ABC News just days after a commission of inquiry's report sent shock waves through QPS ranks.
It found cultural issues inside QPS were hampering the policing of domestic violence.
But Assistant Commissioner Codd, an officer with nearly four decades of experience, is trying to be positive about the future.
He gave evidence twice and sat in the back of the court room for several of the inquiry's public hearings, listening intently to testimony given by his colleagues and victim-survivors.
"When you join the police, you're committing and swearing an oath … to protect and to serve, and when you are hearing that that's not happening, it's confronting and it's saddening," he said.
"It also gives me a determination to turn things around."
The report also found a "failure of leadership" allowed a toxic culture of sexism, misogyny and racism to fester "unchecked" for years.
"We're going through a process now of, firstly, taking a pause," Assistant Commissioner Codd said of the QPS leadership team.
"There's clearly issues that have been identified that warrant us to pause – and have a real think about what's going on.
"I can assure you that the effect of this report … has been forcing us into some uncomfortable spaces to examine our responsibilities here. We're accountable."
He said the inquiry marked a turning point for the organisation.
"There's been a shift, I think we're in a new era now … but there's a lot of work to get through," he said.
"We're shifting our focus to our role in putting the victim at the centre of our response."
QPS leadership has also been tasked with sifting through a tsunami of findings from several recent inquiries and inquests, including two reports from the Women's Safety and Justice Taskforce, the Queensland Audit Report, the Hannah Clarke inquest, and finally the commission of inquiry into Queensland police responses to domestic violence.
Across these reports there are at least 386 recommendations, although Assistant Commissioner Codd said there was "significant overlap" of recommendations.
"But we cannot afford to let this opportunity go, it's one of the biggest opportunities we've had for decades.
"There's a lot of work to do."
'Doing everything we can'
He said a major part of that work would be winning back the community's trust.
"It's a concern that's in my mind – the damage that a lot of this necessary examination may have done to the confidence of vulnerable victims of domestic and family violence, to have faith to be able to come forward."
"If they come forward and make that monumental decision to seek our help, will they be listened to? Will they be acknowledged and will they be believed?
"Can I give you my commitment, we're doing everything we can to turn that around."
Assistant Commissioner Codd said he acknowledged the QPS had made mistakes and had failed some victims.
"Please, if you feel that you did not get the support that you needed by going to your local station or making a call, try again," he said.
"Please keep faith in us, we're doing all we can.
"Will we ever be perfect? I doubt it, but we're going to strive for it.
"We're on a journey — stick with us, we will hope that we will earn your trust and confidence back."
Command resources boost
The most recent inquiry made 79 recommendations, including further resources and staffing for the DFV and vulnerable person's command.
Set up in 2021 following the death of grandmother Doreen Langham at the hands of her ex-partner, the inquiry heard the unit was under-resourced, understaffed and unable to meet growing demand.
"The command was established to … build our capability, understand the revolving and learnings research [of domestic violence] and converting that into policies, procedures, guidelines, training," Assistant Commissioner Codd said.
Until recently, it was also a command with just 27 positions.
"Many of those positions were temporary, so we were having a flow-through of people committed but [they] would only be there for three to six months.
"It's taken 18 months to get … to this point where we have now got a permanent workforce.
"We've moved to over 50 staff in the command, we're also supporting the districts to build their vulnerable persons units as well."
He said work was already underway to implement some of the other findings and that training was a significant focus.
"We have already introduced a three-day face-to-face training on understanding coercive control and the broader issue of victim-centric and trauma-informed practice that all officers and majority of staff members … are doing."
"All staff will have done that training by July next year."
The Queensland Police Service on Thursday announced a new leadership structure, adding a fifth deputy commissioner.
A spokesperson said the new model — to be in place by April 2023 — will include four uniformed deputy commissioners (police officers) and one civilian executive, with the hiring process to "run independently."
Changing mindsets 'a challenge'
Assistant Commissioner Codd said while he still believed "the vast majority" of QPS personnel were doing the right thing, changing the mindsets of officers behaving badly would be a "challenge".
"Our community's expectations are evolving and changing and we need to accept … that we need to evolve to keep pace with the community's expectations," he said.
"We now know that there are some misogynistic and racial and other poor cultural attitudes.
"But we also know [cultural problems] can be born of demand [and] born of desensitisation that comes with fatigue — a sense of futility that officers will continue over many years to do their best but not see a change."
