The Queensland police service appears to have balked at substantial reform to the way it handles officers who are accused of domestic violence, after promising to act on a “concerning increase” in the volume of complaints.
Last May the assistant commissioner Brian Codd told Guardian Australia that police were “grappling” with how to respond to the increase officer-involved domestic violence, and that reforms were “very much” on the agenda.
“You can be a truck driver and you can be subject to a domestic and family violence order and it may not have any impact on your employment or where you sit within society … but we expect and are entitled to more from police officers,” Codd said last year.
He said at the time he had met with the Queensland police ethical standards command “to work out a position we might need to take on this”.
Asked last week what progress had been made in Queensland, a police spokesperson pointed to changes to the operational procedures manual in July 2021 to “support greater officer accountability and ensure the confidence of the public is maintained while an investigation takes place”.
A comparison with the previous operational procedures manual shows the relevant section was updated to require additional paperwork by officers, including ensuring that the “actioning district” submits a briefing note to police ethical standards command for consideration of disciplinary action.
“Immediate consideration of the officer’s circumstances, current position, and the level of contact that member may have with members of the public is reviewed on a case-by-case basis,” the police spokesperson said.
Officer-involved domestic violence poses a significant problem to authorities; specifically allowing natural justice to a person accused of an offence, or subject to a domestic violence order.
At the same time, women’s advocates say it is problematic that a domestic violence victim seeking assistance could theoretically encounter an officer who is subject to a complaint, charge or conviction. Domestic violence now makes up about 40% of calls for police assistance.
Victoria has attempted to address the issue by establishing a specialist police unit to investigate complaints against officers.
Angela Lynch, a domestic violence protection advocate, said changes to operational procedures in Queensland did not go far enough, and victims needed “confidence their case will be dealt with appropriately”.
Lynch said officer-involved domestic violence would be under-reported, and Queensland should have some mechanism where complaints against officers could be made and assessed independent of police.
“The community needs confidence that police acknowledge that this is a problem, and that there’s some level of independent oversight,” she said.
“There has to be some oversight of the decision-making process. I don’t think the community in the end does have confidence that police can do this themselves. It’s Caesar judging Caesar.”
Guardian Australia reported in 2020 that 84 serving police officers had been accused of domestic violence in the previous five years. Police say this rate is “lower than the general public” but evidence suggests officers are “as likely as anyone else” to perpetrate domestic violence.
“On occasion QPS members are subject of domestic and family violence complaint reporting,” a police spokesperson said.
“While these particular matters may be lower than the rate of the general public, any report of members suspected of perpetrating domestic and family violence is taken extremely seriously.
“Responding to incidents of domestic and family violence is often challenging and complex.
“The Queensland police service remains committed to refining and enhancing the police response to DFV, including improving processes for reporting and investigating matters in a timely manner, taking protective action tailored to the needs of the victim and holding perpetrators to account.”
