Police Monthly May 2013 - NSW Police Force

ABOVE Mt Druitt LAC’s Domestic & Family Violence Liaison
Officers, Snr Cst Brian Johnson and Sgt David McInerney
working relationships with a range
of government and non-government
agencies.
The DVLO – who is assigned
in each of the 80 LACs in NSW –
performs a key role in making this
effective collaboration possible.
Mount Druitt DVLO Coordinator
Sgt David McInerney said the role of
DVLO has a strong focus on
the victim.
“We make sure the victim
understands what might be required
through the court system, we also
put them in contact with various
support services and we do a lot of
victim follow up,” he said.
Sgt McInerney said that working
with victims can however prove
challenging for a number of reasons.
“We have victims who are too
scared to give a statement or
take action, are caught up in their
relationship bond, sometimes it’s a
financial factor,” he said. “Others are
caught in the cycle of violence and
some victims have either a dislike or
cultural fear of police.
RS
“Culturally speaking the fear
is there from a different country
where the police were seen as
an enforcement agency for the
government in a corrupt or violent
way,” he said.
Sgt McInerney said to address
these issues DVLOs work with
external agencies that provide victim
support in different ways.
The Women’s Domestic Violence
Court Advocacy Service (WDVCAS)
for example help female victims
and defendants through the court
process in explaining how the judicial
system works and what power
protection orders have.
Sgt McInerney said Staying Home
Leaving Violence (SHLV) is another
fantastic resource that is of great
benefit to victims of domestic
violence.
“They can provide support by
helping the victim stay at home and
within their own community,” he
said. “It means the family doesn’t
have to uproot their lives and change
everything because the offender has
done the wrong thing.”
Sgt McInerney said SHLV can
provide personal protection alarms,
back to base alarm systems and
motion detecting cameras that help
the victim feel safe and secure.
While DVLOs are victim orientated
they are also sometimes involved
in programs – like the Pacific Island
Perpetrator Program that’s managed
by Mount Druitt Probation & Parole
– that aim to stem the likelihood of
repeat offenders.
Mount Druitt DVLO Snr Cst Brian
Johnson has been involved in the
program for the last three years and
said it’s managed like an open forum
where participants can ask questions
and clarify issues.
“Probation & Parole is a really good
partner agency and I think they are
really proactive in trying to achieve
things,” he said.
DVLOs also develop strategies that
target HROs and often work with
DVOs in carrying out compliance
operations that monitor AVOs as well
as bail conditions.
Sgt McInerney said offender letters
can also be utilised in making the
offender aware that they’re being
proactively targeted, not only for
domestic violence related offences
but any form of criminal behaviour.
“We also focus on consistent victim
follow up in these instances,” he said.
“It becomes more of a managed case
basically – with the victim and
the offender.”
LACs are also involved in event
programs that target younger
demographics, which focus on
breaking the intergenerational cycle
of domestic violence.
Walgett LAC in conjunction with
Mission Australia, Walgett Aboriginal
Medical Service and other local
groups hold ‘Boys Day Out’ and ‘Girls
Night In’ events where teenagers can
discuss relationships, the effects of
drug and alcohol abuse and learn
what resources are available to them
in their community.
DVLO Coordinator for Domestic
& Family Violence Team, Leah
Archer said that breaking the cycle
of violence is always a difficult
challenge.
“As soon as kids realise that
domestic violence is not acceptable,
they’re less likely to commit it,”
she said.
One of the most complex
responsibilities of DVLOs is the role
they play in attending court.
This involves speaking with victims
and offenders, obtaining instructions
on court proceedings and ensuring
that orders and applications are
properly completed and served.
Snr Cst Johnson said everyone
has a purpose and a role at court
despite the fact that they’re all
ultimately working toward the same
common good.
“As police we are incident driven
and based around the law and our
prosecutors work along the
same vain.”
“Court advocacy groups take a
more holistic approach in managing
cases, and legal aid are very
defendant based so their aim is to
get the best result for the defendant,”
he said.
Ms Auld said the judicial system
can also prove trying for DVLOs
when offenders are given perceivably
lenient sentences.
“That is quite difficult for police as
they do all the leg work in attending
a domestic violence incident, they
do the investigation, take photos and
victim statements and attend court,”
she said. “But sometimes from the
police perspective that doesn’t seem
to pay off.”
DVLOs also work with GDs in
reviewing domestic and family
violence reports and cases and
carrying out follow up visits with
victims when necessary.
Sgt McInerney said the GDs
manage the initial domestic incident
in attending the scene, taking
statements, arresting offenders and
applying for an AVO.
Sgt McInerney said the DVLO in
turns acts as an oversight body in
ensuring the incidents are responded
to correctly – which is informed by
their specialist knowledge of the area
regarding SOPs for instance.
“We’re trying to help GDs, not
hinder them,” he said. “Making sure
that everything is done correctly is
part of our job and if we can help
everyone with that as in the victim,
the offender and police, then we’ve
done our job.”
Ms Auld said there’s a lot more
resources, skills, training and
knowledge available to support
police now to carry out proactive
investigations and prosecutions to
ideally achieve better court results.
“We’re lucky to have so many
passionate DVLOs,” she said. “They’re
dealing with victims who may be
crying, angry, scared – the whole
range of emotions – and they have to
find a way to connect with them.”
“It’s a credit to them – regardless
of how long they work in the role –
as it’s a highly emotive, volatile and
dangerous area of work and they
achieve great results.”
MAY 2013 PoliceMonthly 15