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