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Police and domestic violence: an analysis of domestic violence incidents attended by police in the ACT and subsequent actions

AUGUST 2007

InTrodUCTIon

Police response to domestic and family violence has been a controversial area of public policy. activists and researchers have challenged the policy and practice of law enforcement to view this cruelly intimate form of violence as a crime. Yet our knowledge of this critical interface between peoples’ personal lives and the most public agency of the criminal justice system remains thin.

The research presented in this report aimed to examine factors that influence a police decision to arrest a suspect at a domestic violence incident. The report adds to our knowledge by providing a statistical analysis of over 4000 incidents of domestic violence� reported to police in the australian capital Territory (acT) over a three year period from

� The acT Family Violence Intervention Program uses a broader definition of domestic violence than that of the COAG Statement of Principles (�997) (see under Definitions on page 3) to encompass all forms of abusive or violent behaviour that take place between intimates or family members. Therefore, the term ‘family violence’ includes abuse between spouses or ex-spouses (in heterosexual or homosexual relationships), between a parent and child, or older child and elder parent, or between siblings and between other family members. Indigenous communities also express a preference that the term encompass this broader focus. From 200�–2004, the aFP attended 9600 incidents of family violence in the acT. however, this report examines only police response to ‘domestic violence’ incidents where the parties are in a spousal or ex-spousal relationship, whether or not they reside together and whether or not they are heterosexual or homosexual relationships.

Police responses to domestic and family violence have been the subject of controversy in australia and overseas for over three decades. The research, policy and advocacy fields in many western countries have been heavily influenced by the famous ‘arrest experiments’ of the �980s in the Usa. In australia, however, there have been very few studies of domestic violence incidents attended by police. This report comprises a longitudinal statistical analysis of the Family Violence Database of the australian Federal Police (acT Region) from 200�–2004. The analysis finds that, per annum, the majority of spouse/ex-spouse incidents reported to and attended by police result from a call for assistance by the victim and primarily involve adult males abusing adult females. When the presence of children is recorded, 70% of incidents show them as being present. The majority of incidents involve a combination of verbal and physical abuse, and about 20% of these involve an allegation of assault. criminal action arises in approximately 30% of spouse/ex-spouse incidents in the acT. The findings are consistent in all three years with some limited exceptions. The report concludes with discussion on the factors influencing improved police practice within the inter-agency Family Violence Intervention Program.

roBYn HoLdEr Victims of Crime Coordinator, Australian Capital Territory

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200�–2004, within the framework of the inter-agency Family Violence Intervention Program (FVIP) described in appendix a.

Part one of the report first provides a brief outline of policy and research debates about police responses to domestic and family violence. It then discusses the australian sources of recorded and reported data, and their limitations. The report briefly outlines the background in the acT to this research, the context of the Family Violence Intervention Program and the parameters of the police Family Violence Database.

Part Two describes the people involved in the spouse/ex-spouse violence incidents reported to police in the acT, their role in the incident and some of their characteristics. It notes who reported the incident to police, the proportion of incidents where children were present and some characteristics of the incidents themselves.

Part Three outlines the actions police took in response to these incidents within a context that explicitly acknowledges the extent of police powers in relation to criminal proceedings and domestic violence in the acT. The report suggests that understanding police powers is critical to interpretations of the data. a range of both formal and informal outcomes are described. an analysis of the appropriateness of the police action in relation to the incident descriptors, and a reflection on the role of gender is provided.

The report concludes with discussion of some of the factors that have influenced the changed practice of acT police in relation to domestic violence, and some implications for directions in law enforcement in australia.

Appendices include a brief outline of the acT Family Violence Intervention Program (FVIP), a technical report, a brief outline of findings from the ‘all family violence’ data, and finally selected raw data tables. a selected bibliography is provided.

List of tables and figures

Table � Number of incidents and offences recorded as domestic violence

Table 2 Number, percentage and characteristics of offenders and victims 2003–04

Table 3 Outcomes according to incident descriptions and content 200�–04

Table 4 Incident description for male and female offenders 200�–04

Table 5 confirmed incident type for male and female offenders 200�–04

Table 6 Factors present in incidents involving male and female offenders 200�–04

Figure � Percentage of persons involved who were identified as offender, victim or participant

Figure 2 Percentage of people who reported incident

Figure 3 children’s involvement in spouse/ex-spouse incidents (percentage)

Figure 4 confirmed incident typeFigure 5 Incident descriptionFigure 6 Woden patrol family violence

incidents June 2000 to June 200�Figure 7 Outcome of incidents (percentage)Figure 8 criminal charges laid by type of

charge (percentage)Figure 9 Types of criminal action taken

(percentage)Figure �0 Other formal actions taken

(percentage)

Acronyms and definitions

aBs australian Bureau of statisticsacT australian capital TerritoryacTP acT PolicingaIc australian Institute of criminologyaFP australian Federal PoliceaVO apprehended Violence Order (NsW)BOcsaR Bureau of crime statistics and

Research (NsW)cMc crime and Misconduct commission

(Qld)DPP Director of Public ProsecutionsDV Domestic violenceDVcs Domestic Violence crisis serviceDVO Domestic Violence OrderFIWT First Instance WarrantFV Family violenceFVIP Family Violence Intervention ProgramNsW New south WalesPROMIs Police Realtime On-line Management

Information system

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�995; Klinger �995; Ferraro �989; hanmer et al. �989; saunders & size �986)

• institutional and public reaction to pro-arrest policies and to domestic violence more generally (Robinson �999; Plotnikoff & Woolfson �998; stalans & Finn �995; Walsh �995; Binder & Meeker �993).

Policy debates and research have explored what police do or do not do in response to incidents of family violence. In australia, much of this focus has been on police action in applications for and enforcement of protection orders as a form of quasi-criminal law (Katzen & Kelly 2000; NsW Ombudsman �999; Trimboli & Bonney �997; egger & stubbs �993; Mugford et al. �993; seddon �993). In the UK there has been an emphasis on the evaluation of projects aimed at improving police response (Kelly �999; Lloyd et al. �994).

The research, policy and advocacy fields in many western countries have also been heavily influenced by the famous ‘arrest experiments’ in the Usa. The first of these was in Minneapolis (sherman and Berk �984) and replication studies in six other locations have been reported in the literature (Black et al. �99�; Dunford et al. �990; hirschel et al. �99�; Pate et al. �99�; sherman et al. �992). The experiments gave rise to a revolution in policy and practice in North american police services (sherman �992). These experiments and the debates about pro-arrest policies or, in the Usa, mandatory arrest statutes (Robinson �999; chaney & saltzstein �998; Zorza �994; James �994) revolved around arguments about the appropriate role of the state in the family (stalans �996; Gelles �993; Finkelhor et al. �983). They dealt with the extent to which domestic violence as alleged criminal conduct warranted law enforcement (Belknap �995); the impact of the policies in poor communities, on women of colour and on victims more generally (stewart 200�a; Blagg et al. 2000; Robinson & chandek 2000a; Mills �999; Obenauf �999, Ruttenberg �994; Bowman �992); and the deterrent or preventive value of the police inter-vention (Manning �993; schmidt & sherman �996; sherman et al. �992; hutchison & hirschel �994).

In essence, the Us studies suggested that the use of arrest in certain domestic violence situations with certain types of offender had a stronger preventive effect in reducing future assaults than did other types of resolution from police (Garner & Maxwell 2000; Fagan �996).2 Whilst the replication studies

2 a key critique of the police arrest experiments is that they upheld

UK United KingdomUsa United states of americaUs United statesVaTac Voluntary agreement to attend court

Australian Federal Police: The aFP is australia’s federal police service. Under a Purchase agreement with the acT Government, the aFP provides community policing services to the acT community.

Domestic violence: The Australian Heads of Government Statement of Principles Regarding Domestic Violence (�997) acknowledged that ‘domestic violence takes a number of forms, both physical and psychological. The commonly acknowledged forms of domestic violence are physical and sexual violence, emotional and social abuse and economic deprivation’. an incident(s) of domestic violence may or may not constitute an alleged criminal offence.

Spouse/ex-spouse: The term offers a broad description of a category of relationship between two people. a ‘spousal’ relationship may include persons who are of the same or different gender, and who may be legally married, living in a de facto relationship, and may be residing in the same or different residences. an ‘ex-spouse’ relationship could be any one of these but where the parties have finished their relationship.

PArT onE: PoLICE And doMESTIC

VIoLEnCE: An oVErVIEW

controversy about police responses to domestic and family violence has been the subject of discussion and study in australia and overseas for over 30 years (hoyle �998; hart �993; Buzawa & Buzawa �996; Dobash & Dobash �992; hopkins & McGregor �99�; hatty �989; hanmer, et al. �989; edwards �989; scutt �983). studies have focused on a number of areas:

• victims’ experience of the police response (Munzel 2003; hoyle & sanders 2000; stephens & sinden 2000; shoham 2000; Websdale & Johnson �997; Buzawa & Buzawa �993; Buzawa & austin �993; Pagelow �98�)

• police attitudes to domestic violence (Jones & Belknap �999; shoham 2000; cromack

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showed less decisive outcomes than did the original experiment and ‘depended on the measurement of the outcome’ (Felson, ackerman & Gallagher 2005, p. 565), the research has absorbed police policymakers and victim advocates alike on police use of their arrest power in domestic violence situations as the key indicator of performance. Moreover, many criminal justice initiatives came to emphasise the increased use of the arrest power as a central indicator of success in reforms (Buzawa et al. �999; Jaffe et al. �993; Gamache et al. �988).

In recent years, some authors have come to claim that criminal justice reform is now less about police action and more about the response of prosecution and courts (Garner & Maxwell 2000), or about the combined action of the criminal justice system as a whole (holder 200�; Murphy et al. �998; Tolman & Weisz �995). Indeed, some criminal law academics state that, in the australian context, there is no lawful basis to seek deterrence from the police arrest decision (Bronnit, simon, [formerly aNU college of Law], 200�, pers. comm.).3 Rather, deterrence is an aim in the sentencing provisions of most australian criminal codes. That is, it is the role of the court to consider deterrence and not the role of police to do so.

aside from the specific question of the lawful authority upon which police may use the power of arrest, there is the difference in both legal and social policy terms between specific and general deterrence. The study of repeat victimisation reported to the Us National crime Victimisation survey by Felson, ackerman and Gallagher (2005), strongly suggests that the very act of victims reporting domestic violence to police acts as a deterrent to the offender. The study lends support to the view that police intervention – whether or not it leads to arrest – discourages specific offenders from committing further acts of domestic violence, and that the threat of possible criminal justice sanction is generally discouraging of offending.

The critical importance of police as a source of immediate protection from violence4 and as a gate-keeper to criminal prosecution, as well as to assistance and support services suggests that as an institution they will always be subject to critique and review.

this one aspect of police power and, moreover, analysed the preventive effect without consideration of whether the matters resulted in a prosecution (overwhelmingly not) or conviction (almost never) (Zorza �994, p. 947).

3 similarly there is no lawful basis in the Usa and the UK to seek deterrence from arrest (Robinson, amanda, [University of cardiff ], 2006, pers. comm., 20 February).

4 Research suggests that the primary reason why victims call for police assistance is the desire for protection (Felson et al. 2002).

Incidents of domestic violence reported to policeKnowledge about the extent of domestic violence internationally has been informed by victimisation surveys, recorded crime statistics and specific studies. each of these methods has positive features and drawbacks.5 studies that investigate the extent to which these incidents are reported or come to the attention of police have shown great variation. The range is from, for example, 2% in the UK (Dobash & Dobash �979) to 50% in the Usa (Langan & Innes �986).6

Victim surveys provide a source of data about prevalence, the actions taken by those who have experienced violence and their orientations to that violence. In particular, surveys reveal the proportion of victims who define their experience as a criminal event and the proportion who then choose to report the violence to police. The national Personal Safety Survey conducted by the australian Bureau of statistics (aBs) in 2005 revealed that 5.8% of women had experienced an incident of violence in the �2 months prior to the survey (and 39.9% had experienced some violence since the age of �5). Of those women who had been physically assaulted, 3�% were assaulted by a current or former partner (aBs 2006, pp. 5–9).

The 2005 survey revealed a change in the pattern of reporting since an earlier aBs study in �996. The most recent study showed that 36% of women who experienced physical assault by a male perpetrator in the �2 months prior to the survey reported to police. In �996, �9% of women surveyed had reported to the police (p. 8).

The australian component of the International Violence against Women survey (Mouzos & Makkai 2004) replicates many of the findings of these studies. Women who had experienced physical violence from a current partner were far less likely to report the incidents to police than women who experienced violence from an ex-partner.7 canadian

5 a recent overview of the australian statistics is provided in an aDFVc stakeholder Paper (Marcus & Braaf 2007).

6 Wolf, Me, Ly, U, hobart, Ma & Kernie, Ma (2003), pp. �22–9 provide an overview of the studies.

7 The earlier aBs study (�996, p. 7) found that of women who had experienced physical violence from any person in the past �2 months, �8.6% called for police assistance. Of women who experienced violence from a current partner, 6.3% called for police assistance, and in the IVaW survey 8% of women who experienced violence from a current partner reported to police (Mouzos & Makkai 2004). Of those who experienced abuse from an ex-partner, 34.6% reported to police (aBs �996, p. 7) or 24% in the IVaWs (Mouzos &

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and New Zealand studies have had similar results (Rodgers �994; Young et al. �997).

Police records of domestic violence incidents

The reliability of domestic and family violence incident data from police services across australia has been questioned for many years and reflects some common problems (Putt & higgins �997; Grabosky �989). Police computer systems are typically focused on operational and legal requirements, and reflect police emphasis on the apprehension of offenders as their core business. There are differences in how domestic violence is defined and therefore categorised both between and within jurisdictions (People 2005; cMc 2005; van de Werken 2002; Putt & higgins �997; Ferrante et al. �996). In addition, police computer systems do not, in the main, contain mandatory domestic violence identification fields requiring completion in either incident records or in apprehensions. Nor do they always require mandatory completion of victim details. Therefore distinguishing (both statistically and operationally) between assaults that may be domestic violence related and those that are not can be inconsistent and subjective.

Police recorded data is reflective of those offences which become known to police and for which a crime report has been completed. The national compilation by the australian Bureau of statistics is highly aggregated from data supplied by state and territory police services using the australian standard Offence classification (asOc) codes. The ‘assault’ code therefore includes all assaults reported to police. The crime victim report produced by the aBs from recorded crime is restricted by the incomplete data on ‘victim relationship to offender’ supplied to it from jurisdictions (aBs May 2003b, p. 5).

Reports about police data are also limited in their descriptions of the outcomes of incidents reported to police. This makes it virtually impossible to determine the ‘rightness’ of the police action and restricts the extent to which policy makers and researchers can use the data to evaluate the effectiveness of criminal justice interventions.8 The term ‘offences cleared’, for example, includes a number of possible outcomes. It is usually

Makkai 2004).8 Further questions remain as to what constitutes an ‘effective’ or even

‘successful’ criminal justice intervention in any offence area. see Dobash & Dobash 2000.

employed to cover incidents where one or more offenders are being processed or charged for the offence, or an investigation reveals that no offence occurred or the complaint was withdrawn, or the perpetrator was known but for some legal or other reason could not be charged. Using a similar definition, the aBs report on recorded crime shows that 45% of assault incidents nationally were ‘finalised’ with the offender processed, and another �2.7% were being finalised with no offender identified (aBs 2003, p. �9).

Nevertheless, police services have recognised the importance of improving data collection, storage and retrieval, in general, and the importance of those systems being more sophisticated in what they can capture and report on in relation to domestic and family violence. Recent detailed studies from Queensland, NsW, south australia and now the acT reflect this growing interest (cMc 2005; People 2005; Wundersitz & hunter 200�; Taylor 2006).

Police in Queensland are required to enter details of domestic violence incidents that they attend onto a Domestic Violence Index (launched March 2003). This index links initial and subsequent police attendance information regarding the parties. an analysis conducted by the Queensland cMc (2005) of 6 months’ data from the DV Index found that police were called to over 20,000 incidents, of which 83% were verified as domestic violence.9 That is 442.5 per �00,000 population (cMc 2005, pp. 3�–3). In the largest proportion of circumstances (35%) ‘no action’ was recorded as an outcome, in 2�% of circumstances ‘breach’ action was initiated and in 27% of incidents a protection order was applied for by way of summons. In �6% of incidents a person was taken into detention for the purpose of making a protection order (cMc 2005, pp. 38–9).

The NsW Bureau of crime statistics and Research (BOcsaR) recently reported that from �997 to 2004, the recorded rate of domestic assaults increased in NsW by 39.5% in the sydney statistical division and by 50.7% in the rest of NsW, although it showed a decline from 2002 to 2004 (People 2005, p. 3). The reporting of domestic violence is consistent with the overall finding that ‘public willingness to report assault to police in NsW has shown no systematic upward or downward trend over the last decade’ (People 2005, pp. 3, 5). The paper further noted that

9 That is, behaviours alleged under s�� of the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 1989 (Qld), and within relationship categories defined under s�2.

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the proportion of domestic assault within all assaults reported to police in NsW has remained between 35 and 40%: that is, 25,76� domestic assaults in 68,984 incidents of reported assault in 2004 (People 2005, p. 3).

an earlier BOcsaR report into all recorded crime (Doak, Fitzgerald & Ramsay 2003) stated that there were nearly 24,700 incidents of domestic assault reported. The report also noted just under �2,000 incidents of breach aVO. It did not state whether there was any overlap between these categories for which outcomes were not recorded. In 45.9% of incidents for assault as a general category, an offender was proceeded against.�0

Victorian Police officers are required to complete Family Incident Forms following notification of any incident (Victoria Police undated b). In 200�–02 Victoria Police recorded nearly 23,500 ‘family incidents’, of which approximately 2800 (��.9%) resulted in charges (Victoria Police undated b).�� The number of incidents where an offender was processed was just under 2800. Police applied for just under 24,500 family violence intervention orders. some ‘domestic’ incidents may also be counted in Victoria’s assault data. Outcomes for the category of ‘all assault’ are recorded as ‘method of processing’. Under this term, arrest constitutes 40.�% and summons 49%.

a south australian Office of crime statistics and Research report extracted all incidents of reported assault from the police database where a victim/offender relationship was recorded and where that relationship fell into a specified category (Wundersitz & hunter 200�, p. 3). That report identified nearly 5400 incidents of physical or sexual assault where the victim/offender relationship was a ‘family’ one; 64% (n=3455) of these were ‘intimate’ relationships (p. 7). however, the report does not provide outcomes for these incidents.

It can be concluded that police records of family and domestic violence statistics are useful indicators of service responses and reporting patterns but not of prevalence. They are further limited in being highly aggregated, generally not providing a relationship context and not linking outcomes (or ‘method of processing’) to this relationship category. Outcome descriptions do not clearly describe criminal action

�0 For assault-general, 6�,269 incidents were proceeded against (of a total of �33,332).

�� This charge rate is comparable for that in previous years; see Victoria Police (undated b).

arising from the incident. Where domestic violence incidents have been captured (in NsW and Victoria, for example) they do not provide information on the content of the incidents nor whether the incident constituted an offence. comparisons across jurisdictions are therefore virtually impossible.

Background to the ACT Police researchGarner and Maxwell (2000, p. �07), in their meta-evaluation of the Us police studies assert that the experiments ‘changed the nature of public debate from the safety of police officers to the safety of victims and demonstrated how good research could contribute to the policies and practices of police’. however, the authors note disapprovingly that contemporary policy discussions about appropriate responses appear not to derive from, nor be tested by, empirical research of rigorous conceptualisation and design.

The unique place that the Us arrest experiments have in criminology was made possible, Garner and Maxwell claim,

… because a small number of police managers and domestic violence reformers were prepared to invest in a long-term program of rigorous research testing their most cherished beliefs about the most effective police responses to domestic violence, while the rest of the country continued to make decisions based on the best information available. (2000, p. 109)

This report derives from a similarly high level of management investment within the aFP in the acT to improving the knowledge base about family and domestic violence (Lines 2003). During the independent evaluation of the first phase (�998–99) of the inter-agency Family Violence Intervention Program (FVIP), acT Policing (acTP) was asked, along with other participating agencies, to provide data to the evaluators (Keys Young 2000). Table � provides the incident data supplied by the aFP for the evaluation.

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Table 1: Number of incidents and offences recorded as domestic violence

description �997–98 �998–99

Number of reported incidents recorded as domestic violence

776 685

Number of incidents recorded as domestic violence, where offence(s) were recorded

88 �53

Number of offences associated with recorded domestic violence incidents

�42 255

Number of cleared offences relating to incidents recorded as domestic violence

��5 �89

Source: Keys Young (2000, p. 21). The data collected for 1998–99 used different data collection systems: COPS until 31/12/98 and PROMIS from 1/1/99.

The aFP was then asked whether it was possible to know the content of those incidents recorded as ‘domestic violence’ and those ‘where an offence was recorded’. ‘content’ was meant to describe the abusive behaviours put to attending officers by the complainant (presuming that the complainant was the victim). Of course, what was behind the question was an unease, if not outright suspicion, that some incidents that involved allegations of violence might have been re-defined, for one reason or another, as ‘disturbance’, that is, de-criminalised.

This perception of police recording practice and interpretation was not new (see for example, Mugford et al. �993). It was also not confined to the acT (cMc 2005; Ferrante et al. �996; hatty �989; edwards �989). In large part the doubt stemed from a perception that the police as an institution was unsympathetic towards the call for reform in responses to domestic violence, combined with distrust in the integrity of police data systems to accurately and comprehensively capture the full picture of domestic violence incidents reported to the police. The latter feeling of doubt has been noted by researchers analysing police recording practices in a range of offence areas.�2

The evaluation of the pilot Phase I of the FVIP concluded, with reference to the police data, that

�2 see, for example, chilvers & Doak 2000. This NsW Bureau of crime statistics & Research report sought to validate the integrity of recorded crime statistics for motor vehicle theft and break and enter with the incidents reported to police; it found that, by and large, the relationship between the two sets of data was close.

‘the aFP statistics should be treated with extreme caution’, (Keys Young 2000, p. 20). Firstly, there was no method of retrieving domestic violence data on an aggregate basis (unless a special program was written). secondly, the police computer system (then called cOPs) contained no identifier for domestic violence other than an ‘incident type’ tickbox. There was no such identifier on the charge (or apprehensions) module of the database. Moreover, the ‘incident’ identifier was not a compulsory field. Lastly, in �998 the aFP introduced a new data system, PROMIs (Police Realtime On-line Management Information system). With the implementation of a new system doubt was thrown on the reliability of data for that year. The evaluators stated that the �998–99 data ‘cannot be used as an accurate or reliable benchmark against which future progress of the FVIP can be monitored’, (Keys Young 2000, p. 20).

The evaluation of Phase I of the FVIP concluded with a rather mixed report card for all the justice agencies (Keys Young 2000, pp. 3–5). Following this, agency heads, in particular of acT Policing and the acT Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), agreed to embark upon a second phase of FVIP. Phase II (2000–02) involved police and prosecution testing some means to improve evidence collection, the preparation of briefs of evidence and case management within prosecution.�3 In the pilot patrol area for Phase II (Woden) all officers received special training and additional equipment, consisting of the Family Violence Investigator Kit, including a digital camera, a video and dictaphone. In addition, all family violence incidents were subject to review by the Family Violence Project Officer (a sergeant).

The evaluation of Phase II of the FVIP showed that police in the Woden Patrol responded positively to the new initiatives. ‘It’s enabled us to take responsibility’, said one officer. Officers rated highly the quality, content and delivery of the new training, quickly utilised the new equipment and shifted their investigative practices in response (Urbis Keys Young 200�, p. 39).

The first FVIP evaluation used a range of measures to evaluate the effectiveness of the program, including

�3 The second independent evaluation of Phase II was conducted by Urbis Keys Young (200�). The evaluation contains a description of the initiatives that were trialled at the time. The prosecution reforms and outcomes of cases at court under the acT FVIP are described in holder and Mayo (2003) and holder (2006, p. �). Data from the operation of the FVIP from �998–2006 is contained in the report by holder & caruana (2006).

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that of arrest. however, it has long been claimed by Us researchers that ‘by itself arrest is an ambiguous indicator of responsible policing’ (Worden & Pollitz �984, p. ��8). although the arrest and charge decision remained the cornerstone, the Woden Patrol results initiated a broader line of enquiry looking at which formal police-initiated methods might achieve which type of outcomes for victims and perpetrators of domestic violence. That is, whilst pro-arrest was the aFP policy position, actions other than arrest and charge might have been appropriate depending upon the circumstances. One officer stated:

Our members have been reminded that family violence matters need full investigation. We never received any encouragement before. … We had a culture of a ‘quick fix’ approach to family vio-lence, to end the situation that was occurring at the time and that was all. Encouragement from management that this is not the case has been a motivating factor for our members to do it well. (Urbis Keys Young 2001, p. 48).14

In addition to an independent evaluation, the pilot at Woden was subject to an Own Motion Review by the acT Ombudsman over 2000–0�. even though the whole FVIP was initiated on the premise that the criminal law was being under-utilised in the acT in response to domestic violence, the Ombudsman had received a different set of complaints, albeit small in number. The Ombudsman’s review enquired into the extent to which the Woden pilot was inappropriately, unlawfully, or oppressively utilising police authority in domestic violence. a representative of the acT Ombudsman, with the police project officer, went through every family violence ‘job’ attended by Woden officers over 2000–0�. Not one decision was found to be an unlawful or excessive use of police power in the circumstances of each case. Only one officer’s decision not to arrest was questioned.�5

a briefing paper prepared for acTP during the Ombudsman’s Own Motion Review outlined the findings from studies, mainly in the Us, about the influences upon the police decision to arrest and

�4 The high degree of management support during the pilot at Woden and during the subsequent acT-wide implementation has been noted (Lines 2003). Research in the Us found that active and positive supervisory styles amongst police supervisors were more likely to influence officer behaviour, to inspire problem-solving and to be more conducive to implementing community policing goals (engel 2003).

�5 Information on file with the author.

charge (holder 200�, pp. 24–5). It was abundantly clear that, at the time, there was no credible australian research that threw light on officer decision-making.�6 To conduct independent research linking case analysis and officer interviews was beyond the resources available to the FVIP agencies. however, it was put to acTP that a one-off statistical analysis of three months of the Woden data using the variables from overseas studies be implemented. This proposal was accepted and grew into a data collection and analysis project for the region as a whole and for a three year period.�7

The research presented in this report draws on this specifically created acTP Family Violence Database. The report comprises a statistical description and analysis of police recorded data of incidents, defined broadly as ‘domestic violence’, attended by them for the years 200�–02, 2002–03 and 2003–04. Further research using multivariate models of analysis would be useful in future.

The ACTP Family Violence Statistical databaseThe acTP Family Violence Database is a unique statistical ‘snapshot’ of all family violence incidents reported to and attended by police in the acT. It is an investment of resources and time that is remarkable in such a contested area of policing. appendix B comprises a technical and methodol-ogical description of aspects of the database.

What constitutes a family violence incident for entry onto the acTP FV Database? The first criterion is that it is an incident notified to police or of which they have otherwise been made aware that requires a police resource to attend or respond. The second criterion is that the relationship of the parties to the incident, as a minimum, falls within the definition of a ‘relevant person’ under the acT Domestic Violence and Protection Orders Act 2001.18 a third criterion is that each incident is considered statistically independent. ‘Incident’ includes what

�6 The Queensland cMc study (2005) examined the factors influencing police decision-making through questionnaires and focus groups. This method captures the reflections of officers in an interview setting, but does not link actual decisions to specific incidents.

�7 The police component of Phase II of the FVIP included funding for two positions. Ingrid Johnston, with research skills and a criminology background, set up the database and produced the first six month analysis. Tania Bierzonski-Burczyk finalised the entry of the second six months’ data. Both researchers produced early internal analyses. acTP continued the data entry for two further years (Taylor 2006).

�8 as amended (2005). The amendments included a slight change to the definition of ‘relevant person’. see www.legislation.act.gov.au.

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happened immediately prior to police arrival and during police presence. Previous incidents between the involved parties that were reported to police are not combined into the one incident, even where the interval between the incidents was relatively short.

The design of the acTP FV Database was strongly influenced by a research review conducted by Robinson and chandek (2000b) into ‘the domestic violence arrest decision’. That review examined studies into the demographic, attitudinal and situational variables to the arrest decision. The additional primary research conducted by Robinson and chandek and incorporated within their review supports the conclusions of others that situational characteristics were still more important predictors of the arrest decision than were individual attitudes of officers regarding victims or domestic violence in general (Klinger �995; stalans & Finn �995; Robinson & chandek 2000b, p. 33).

With this conclusion in mind the acTP FV Database employed situational variables only. situational variables included some characteristics of the alleged victim and the alleged perpetrator, whether the suspect was present when police arrived, whether there were other witnesses, whether a weapon was involved and what type, the preference of the victim for or against arrest, and the presence and severity of injuries.

Queensland research (cMc 2005) asked police officers to indicate the importance of a range of factors in influencing their decision to proceed with criminal charges (as opposed to applying for a protection order) at a domestic violence incident. The study found that ‘more than 80% of officers indicated that serious injury to the victim, the use of a weapon, or the commission of an indictable offence were important or very important factors influencing their decision to proceed with criminal charges’ (2005, p. 48).

The acTP research explores this finding further by providing statistical correlation of these variables against the outcome of the incident. It is less subjective and adds important new knowledge. While there may not be that much difference between domestic violence in the United states and australia (except for the use of firearms), there are critical differences in police powers and the organisational and political context around their use. Further qualitative research needs to be done to track the outcomes of cases at court. Of course, in choosing to capture some variables and not others,

the acTP FV Database is limited. Nonetheless it was felt that the Robinson and chandek (2000b) research review was sufficiently reliable to warrant the specific selection of key variables.

Summary of key findings from ACTP FV Database 2001–0419

• Of an average 3500 family violence incidents attended by police per annum in the acT, nearly 42% are spouse/ex-spouse domestic violence (n=�344).20

• spousal abuse constitutes 47% of domestic violence reported to police with 53% relating to ex-spouses.

• Domestic violence incidents reported to police in the acT affect nearly 2900 people each year.

• Nearly 650 children and young people per year are recorded by police as being present or involved in domestic violence incidents.

• 84% of alleged offenders are adult males, and 82% of victims are adult females.

• Over each of the three years, approximately 70% of incidents per year were reported to police by victims.

• Injuries were recorded as being sustained in 25% of domestic violence incidents, and weapons were present in 5% of incidents.

• alcohol use was recorded as being present for 27% of offenders, and 7% of victims.

Outcomes of incidents

• 65% of alleged offenders had fled or were not present at the scene when police attended.

• Over one third of domestic violence incidents are described as being ‘verbal and physical’, and an average �9% per annum are confirmed by police as constituting an allegation of assault.

• criminal action arose from approximately 30% of domestic violence incidents per year.

• Of these, arrest was the most common action arising: 75.5%.

�9 Raw data for the analysis is given at appendix D.20 Between 52% and 56% of relationships are described as ‘spouse/ex-

spouse’ within the FV Database.

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• Of all domestic violence incidents attended by police in 200�–02, 20.5% resulted in an arrest; the figures were 28.5% in 2002–03 and 29.2% in 2003–04.

• an average of 834 charges per year arise from domestic violence incidents attended by police; of these the most frequent is common assault, followed by breach of protection orders and property offences.

Factors affecting outcomes

• Incidents described as being ‘verbal and physical’ and ‘property damage’ are overwhelmingly likely to result in arrest.

• a confirmed offence incident is highly likely to give rise to criminal action as a police response.

• If injury resulted and alcohol was present then arrest was more likely.

• The offender’s presence at the scene was a factor influencing arrest.

• The victim was described as ‘cooperative’ in the vast majority of incidents where arrest arose.

Main Finding

Police in the acT largely make decisions on taking criminal action in domestic violence based on the circumstances of the incident and the presence of specific situational factors that may go to support a charge of criminal conduct.

PArT TWo: PArTICIPAnTS In And ConTEnT oF doMESTIC

VIoLEnCE InCIdEnTS

overview of differences between domestic violence and all family violenceThe characteristics of all family violence incidents attended by police, including adult child on parent violence, parent on child abuse, sibling abuse, spouse/ex-spouse ‘domestic violence’ and so forth are statistically different from the domestic violence sub-category in some important ways.2�

In particular:

• The proportion of adult male offenders and adult female victims is higher in domestic violence than in all family violence.

• Domestic violence incidents are more likely to be described as ‘verbal and physical’ whereas all family violence is more likely to be described as ‘verbal only’.

• assault is more likely to be the ‘confirmed incident type’ in domestic violence incidents, whereas in all family violence it is most likely to be confirmed as ‘disturbance’.

• alcohol use is broadly similar in incidents of domestic violence as in all family violence, as is the presence of injury in victims.

• Victims of domestic violence (72%) are far more likely to report the incident to police than are victims in all family violence (44%), whereas neighbours (�3%) are more likely to report family violence to police than they are domestic violence (8%).

• In domestic violence, criminal action arises in about 30% of incidents per year, but this is far less in all family violence (�6% in 2003–04).

• arrest is the most common criminal action arising in both types of incidents although it constitutes about 20% of outcomes in all family violence as opposed to 30% of outcomes in domestic violence.

• More charges per annum (n=�228) arise from all family violence than in the sub-category of domestic violence (n=834 per annum).

2� Taylor (2006) reported on all family violence (including spouse/ex-spouse abuse) incidents attended by police over 200�–04 in the acT.

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a summary of the findings for all family violence is at appendix c.

Person characteristics in spouse/ex-spouse domestic violenceThis section deals only with those incidents that could be described as ‘domestic violence’. That is, it discusses incidents involving persons who are in a spousal or ex-spousal relationship, whether with same or different genders, and whether legally married or not. These constitute between 52% and 58% of all FV incidents attended by police in the acT.22

Over the three year period police attended 4040 spouse/ex-spouse incidents, of which 47% (n=�895) involved spouses and 53% (n=2�45) involved ex-spouses.

There were �6�623 spouse/ex-spouse incidents in 200�–02, �370 incidents in 2002–03, and �05� in

22 In Queensland, 79.8% of family violence incidents attended by police are ‘spousal’ (cMc 2005, p. 35). In NsW 6�.8% of ‘domestic violence’ incidents attended by police involve a ‘current or former partner’ (People 2005, p. 7).

23 The report on all FV incidents provided to the acTP by the aIc identified �6�9 spouse/ex-spouse relationships (Taylor 2006, p. a5), and �6�6 spouse/ex-spouse incidents.

2003–04. The incidents involved between 2�00 and 3500 people of whom about half were victims.

In all three years a consistent proportion of persons most often identified as offenders in spouse/ex-spouse incidents were male. In 2003–04 this was 84%.24 In all three years a consistent proportion of persons most identified as victims were female. In 2003–04 this was 82%.25

In 2003–04, nearly all domestic violence offenders were adults, whereas in 2002–03 juveniles made up 0.8%.26 In both years, about 7% of victims in domestic violence incidents were children or young people. alcohol was present for 27% of offenders

24 In NsW 7�.�% of victims of domestic violence incidents attended by police are female and 80.4% of offenders are male (People 2005, p. 3). In Queensland, 78% of ‘aggrieved’ persons (victims) were female, and 82.5% of ‘respondents’ (perpetrators) were male (cMc 2005, p. 35). Wundersitz and hunter (200�, p. 9) found that 88.5% of victims of intimate physical and sexual assault recorded by south australia Police were female.

25 The Personal Safety Survey (aBs 2006) found that 3�% of women had been physically assaulted in the previous �2 months by a current or previous partner, as opposed to 4.4% of men (p. 9).

26 In NsW, the highest proportion of offenders is aged between 30 and 34 years (People 2005, p. 6). Wundersitz and hunter (200�, p. �6) reveal that 4.7% of ‘intimate family’ physical and sexual assaults recorded by police were for a child victim aged less than �8 years.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

O�ender Victim Participant

Percen

tage

2001-02 2002-03 2003-04

Figure 1: Percentage of persons involved who were identified as offender, victim or participant

Source: ACT Policing (AFP)

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and 7% of victims.27 Table 2 sets out the number and characteristics of offenders and victims in 2003–04 in more detail.

Table 2: Number, percentage and characteristics of offenders and victims 2003–04

oFFEndErS VICTIMS

No. % No. %Male 86� 84% �99 �8%Female �65 �6% 897 82%Total �02� �00% �09� �00%

adult male 858 84% �77 �6%Juvenile male 3 0% 22 2%adult female �62 �6% 843 77%Juvenile female 3 0% 54 5%Total �02� �00% �09� �00%

Alcohol useYes 278 27% 77 7%No 748 73% �0�9 93%Total �02� �00% �09� 7%

InjuryYes 39 4% 2�3 �9%No 987 96% 883 8�%Total �02� �00% �09� �00%

Weapon useYes 49 5% 2 0%No 977 95% �094 �00%Total �02� �00% �09� �00%

Incidents in which offender presentPresent 370 35%Not present 68� 65%Total �0�� �00%

Source: ACT Policing (AFP)

contrary to popular opinion, the overwhelming majority (72% in 2003–04) of spouse/ex-spouse domestic violence is reported to police by victims themselves.28 Neighbours were the next most common category of persons reporting incidents to police (8% of those reporting).

27 In NsW 36.2% of domestic violence incidents attended by police were flagged ‘alcohol-related’ (People 2005, p. 6). Victoria Police recorded ‘alcohol definite’ in approximately 40% of incidents (Victoria Police undated).

28 Felson et al. (2005 p. 574) note that intervention incidents were ‘primarily’ reported to police by victims themselves.

Children present in spouse/ ex-spouse incidents29

It is more likely that children were recorded as being present or involved in spouse/ex-spouse incidents than in all family violence incidents. Over the three year period, 200�–04, �940 children were recorded as being present or involved in domestic violence incidents attended by police in the acT (average 647 per year).30

a child is categorised as being a ‘witness’ only if the child saw the incident and was old enough to provide a statement to police. If the child was not old enough to provide a statement then the child is listed as being ‘present’.

In all three years, in the vast majority of situations, children were in a biological relationship with both victim and offender: approximately 83% of children present (n=400 in 2003–04) were biologically related to the offender, and between 93% and 96% of children (n=462 in 2003–04) were biologically related to the victim.

Types of incidentsThe description of the incident disclosed by parties to police and recorded by police goes to the heart of questions as to the integrity and legitimacy of the police response to domestic violence. as discussed above, what parties disclose to police, the evidence officers see before them and the information provided by third party witnesses are all critical to the exercise of an officer’s discretion. In particular, the construction of this information will tell an officer whether there is a suspicion that an offence may actually have taken place, and whether there is sufficient evidence to support the exercise of their powers to intervene.

There will always be some degree of difference in the description of what has allegedly taken place between that which police record, and that described by a victim or aggressor to police or to others. The extent to which police choose to record some pieces of information about the incidents they attend and not others has been the subject of critical

29 acTP records of children present or involved in incidents are steadily improving. however, it is not possible to say with any certainty that all children observed at all incidents will actually be recorded in PROMIs.

30 The Personal Safety Survey (aBs 2006) found that 49% of men and women who experienced violence from a current partner had children in their care at some time during the relationship. about 27% said that the children had witnessed the violence (p. ��).

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Figure 2: Percentage of people who reported incident

Figure 3: Children’s involvement in spouse/ex-spouse incidents (percentage)

Percentage

2001-02 2002-03 2003-04

0% 10 % 2 0 % 3 0% 4 0 % 5 0 % 6 0% 7 0 % 8 0%

Other

Family Services

Ambulance

AFP internal

Fire brigade

Neighbour

Parent

Child

Participant

O�ender

Victim

Percen

tage

2001-02 2002-03 2003-04

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Present Witness Sought help

Activelyinvolved

Activelyintervened

O�ender Victim Participant

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study (chilvers & Doak 2000; Douglas & Laster �994; edwards �989). Recording practice is influenced by a number of factors, for example, time pressures, but also by what police are trained to look for and record, what is legally required to show the elements of an offence and thereby support the exercise of the officer’s powers and a possible future prosecution, what is administratively required for supervisory purposes, and what is customary practice. It is the last area of police practice that has drawn most criticism (hanmer et al. �989; hatty �989).

The Us Duluth Domestic abuse Intervention Project (DaIP) has, in recent years, identified a different way of looking at police practice. Through the Safety and Accountability Audit (Pence & Lizdas �998), the DaIP practitioners have revealed the extent to which police officers (and other justice professionals) are organised by the technological and administrative structure of their work to record just some pieces of information and not others. Therefore, says the DaIP, it is not necessarily a matter of officer prejudice but primarily a matter of how they are ‘institutionally organised’ (p. 7). adjust these technological and administrative requirements according to the work-place environment, says the DaIP, and the justice system is very quickly provided with more information about the incidents/offences than it had previously. The suggestion therefore allows for higher quality and more nuanced decision-making about family violence than has previously been possible.

The acTP FV Database, being purely a statistical analysis of the police record, does not capture the difference between what the parties may say and what police may record, however great or small that difference may be. however, in an effort to capture the complexity of the incident, the FV Database employs two methods of describing the incident. The first uses the ‘confirmed incident type’ from a standard list within the police computer, PROMIs.3� This is given at Figure 4. The second uses an identification devised by the analysts to describe the content of the dispute or incident as complained of by the parties (Figure 5).

Neither of these descriptions specifically defines whether or not a criminal offence has been alleged or committed. That is done in another set of variables. In very broad terms those incidents that

3� Police communications may attach a description to an incident to which a patrol car is being sent; for example, ‘disturbance’. Upon arrival at the scene, the officers are able to confirm the type of incident. This is then entered into PROMIs as a ‘confirmed incident type’; for example, ‘assault’.

are included in the ‘verbal only’ description could be presumed not to contain an offence. such incidents could, for example, be those where parties disclose to police that they ‘were arguing’ and not contain any disclosure from either party that any other type of behaviour that could constitute an offence had transpired. Figure 8 captures the situation where parties disclose that the verbal argument contained specific threats that constituted an offence.

a further important limitation to the incident descriptor of ‘verbal & physical’ is that it does not capture the severity of the physical violence alleged, nor the content of the verbal altercation. There is a significant difference between, for example, a shove that results in a bruise and a number of punches to the face or body resulting in open wounds; and between, for example, a verbal altercation where one party insults another, as against one where a party says ‘I’ll kill you’. some correlation can be drawn, however, by linking whether an injury resulted from an incident, the incident type and the incident outcome.

Figure 4 shows that the majority of domestic violence incidents in all three years were confirmed as a ‘disturbance’ (36% in 2003–04), with the next largest category confirmed as ‘assault’ (�9% in 2003–04). The proportion of 2003–04 incidents confirmed as a breach DVO was ��.5%. For all FV incidents, ‘disturbance’ was 46%, ‘assault’ �2% and breach DVO 5.8% (Taylor 2006, p. a5).

For male and female offenders in domestic violence situations in 2003–04, the confirmed incident type was most likely to be a disturbance (34% for males, n=295; and 44% for females, n=73). assault constituted the next most significant category for male offenders (2�%, n=�8�) and, to a lesser degree, female offenders (9.7%, n=�6).32

Figure 5 outlines the description of the incident using definitions specific to the nature of domestic violence. These descriptions reflect both the cause of the incident as disclosed by the parties to attending police, and its level of severity.33 Thus,

32 Wundersitz and hunter (200�, p. �3) show that in south australia, major assaults comprised 67.6% of physical assaults by current partners. The majority of physical and sexual assaults of an ‘intimate’ involved a female victim, 88.�% and 97.�% respectively (p. �0, Table 5). ‘Intimate assaults’ were defined as those involving people in an intimate relationship, such as current or former spouses, partners, defactos or girl/boy friends.

33 Victoria Police Family Incident Reports provide for officers to record ‘causes of family incidents’. 46% of records show cause as ‘other’, ‘unknown’ and ‘unspecified’. ‘Verbal abuse’ constitutes 35.7% of

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Figure 4: Confirmed incident type

Figure 5: Incident description

0 % 5 % 1 0 % 1 5 % 2 0 % 2 5 % 3 0 % 3 5 % 4 0 %

Percentage

2001-02 2002-03 2003-04

Other

Suspicious

Sexual assault

Routine

Psychiatric

Nuisance

Disturbance

Criminal damage

Check premises

Breach DVO

Assault

0 % 5 % 1 0 % 1 5 % 2 0% 2 5 % 3 0 % 35 % 4 0%

Percentage

2001-02 2002-03 2003-04

Other

Phone/letter/email

Custody/access

Refuse to leave

Property damage

Verbal and physical

Verbal only

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an incident that began as an argument over access to children would be labelled as ‘custody/access issues’ unless it resulted in an assault in which case it would be described as a ‘verbal/physical’ incident. For the purposes of this section, therefore, if two descriptions were relevant to the record of the family violence incident, the most serious description was chosen. Figure 5 shows that, in spouse/ex-spouse relationships, verbal and physical incidents comprised the largest category of incident descriptors (36.2%), whereas for all FV incidents the largest category was verbal only (37%), with verbal and physical at 28.5% (Taylor 2006, p. a3).

The incident description for both male and female offenders in spouse/ex-spouse incidents in 2003–04 was that they were most commonly ‘verbal and physical’ (38% for males, n=323 and 28% for females, n=47).34

PArT THrEE: ACTIonS And oUTCoMES FroM PoLICE

ATTEndAnCE AT doMESTIC VIoLEnCE InCIdEnTS

Police actions arising from spouse/ex-spouse domestic violence incidentsThe question of the appropriateness, relevance and type of action taken or not taken by police officers in response to family violence has been heavily critiqued in australian and overseas studies (cMc 2005; Ombudsman Western australia 2003; NsW Ombudsman �999; hoyle �998). as the Queensland crime and Misconduct commission stated, there is ‘a commonly held view that “no action” [following preliminary investigation] may be indicative of a failure of officers to act appropriately and may reflect an officer’s propensity to avoid domestic violence jobs’ (cMc 2005, p. 38).

This judgement may or may not resonate with all australian jurisdictions. however, it is apparent that

recorded causation (Victoria Police undated b, p. �32). It does not appear that this record of ‘cause’ is descriptive of the behaviours alleged.

34 In their south australian study of assault by a family member, Wundersitz and hunter (200�) found that of all ‘major’ physical assaults recorded by police in 2000, �7.6% involved current or former intimate partners (p. 8). Of all physical assaults by an intimate partner, 88.�% involved a female victim and ��.9% involved a male victim (p. ��).

police responses to incidents of domestic and family violence, as recorded on the acTP FV Database, are as varied and complex as are the incidents themselves. Key questions must be whether the action taken by officers was lawful and whether it was appropriate to the circumstances before them. The acT Ombudsman’s own motion review minutely examined the response of officers in the Woden pilot patrol in 2000–0�. That review found that police had exercised their powers lawfully and appropriately in all the incidents considered except one. In that one instance, the Ombudsman considered that the circumstances could more properly have inclined the officer to use his powers of arrest.

Police powers and domestic violenceBefore discussing the results of the data analysis, it is useful to review the ways in which police are authorised and trained to engage with any incident to which they are called, and the legal framework to their powers. Police powers are discussed with reference to the acT although, within the criminal jurisdiction, their powers are broadly similar to those of police in other australian states and territories. What is critically different remains the policy framework in other jurisdictions that emphasises police applications for protection orders as the key outcome measure (cMc 2005, for example).

To begin with, there is a difference for police between an ‘incident’ and an ‘offence’. a domestic violence incident is a disturbance of some sort where police are called to attend or respond, where there is a ‘relevant relationship’ between the parties and where an offence may or may not be disclosed. a response to a domestic violence incident by police might give rise to a number of informal actions including (depending on the circumstances) the provision of relevant information, information about protection orders, and/or a referral.

an offence may be identified from a domestic violence incident. schedule � of the Domestic Violence and Protection Orders Act 2001 defines 42 domestic violence offences against the acT Crimes Act 1900. a response to a ‘domestic violence offence’ might, depending whether there was sufficient evidence to substantiate a criminal charge, give rise to a number of formal actions including arrest, summons, Voluntary agreement to attend court

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(VaTac), caution, FIWT (first instance warrant), fresh charge or ‘other’.35

Investigation and charge decisions

an officer can initiate an investigation into an alleged offence if he or she has ‘reasonable suspicion’ that an offence has occurred (see acT Crimes Act 1900). This standard enables a police officer to commence the investigation period earlier than under the previous legislative definition. It does not in any way reduce the required threshold for placing a person before the courts with respect to an allegation of the commission of a criminal offence. Ultimately the Director of Public Prosecutions still needs to prove that the offender committed the offence beyond reasonable doubt.36

There are many different scenarios to domestic violence that may influence the formation of reasonable suspicion. The existence of an injury, for example, does not necessarily establish a belief on reasonable grounds that a domestic violence offence has occurred. Police must still determine how the injury occurred and who is the most likely person to have engaged in conduct that gave rise to that injury. The police officer’s role as an impartial investigator demands that he or she look to the evidence before them.

another scenario may be where police are called by neighbours to attend a domestic violence incident. If, for example, a neighbour says that they saw an assault take place but the alleged victim denies that it did, then the officer still has to balance the weight of evidence available. how far to take an investigation in these types of circumstances is a matter of discretion and a matter (in the acT) for the officer’s supervisor to review.

The policy of acTP on family violence is ‘pro-charge’.37 It states that ‘pro-charge’ means that

35 a VaTac is a Voluntary agreement to attend court. If a person fails to attend court on the date agreed to, the VaTac has no enforcement power. an officer must then return to consider other options such as a summons or arrest. In NsW it is called a caN or court attendance Notice. VaTacs are no longer in use in the acT. a FIWT is a First Instance Warrant issued when there is sufficient evidence to substantiate a charge but where the offender is not able to be located for arrest at the time of the incident. The ‘other’ category includes instances where an emergency protection order (ePO) was applied for, or outstanding warrants actioned, action on intoxication initiated, or emergency mental health action taken.

36 The acT DPP prosecutes all summary and indictable matters in the territory. The acT does not have police prosecutors.

37 This policy predated the FVIP and was reiterated in the FVIP Protocols in �998. In essence, the FVIP put the policy into operation.

where the available evidence discloses an offence, criminal charges should be laid, and should include the full range of offences for which evidence is available. This should be an evidence-based decision and should not be influenced by the wishes of the victim.38 ‘Pro-charging’ stresses the importance of charges that address, if the evidence is available, the full criminality of the behaviours alleged of the offender. For example, a person who strikes his partner, bars her exit from the home and throws her favourite vase through the window could be charged with common assault, unlawful confinement and criminal damage.39

In summary, the critical threshold that an officer must reach is, first, that s/he has a reasonable suspicion that an offence has been committed; and, second, that s/he has a reasonable suspicion that this person has committed that offence. This is the required level of proof to substantiate a charge. The next question before an officer is how then to deal with the alleged offence. This is a matter of officer discretion.

Arrest decision

Once an officer is satisfied that an offence has taken place and is satisfied as to the person most likely to have committed that offence, then the question is how to deal with it? as mentioned previously, officers may arrest, caution, or issue a summons or (previously) VaTac, or utilise another appropriate power.

The acT Crimes Act 1900 specifies that, for any offence, police are obliged to consider a summons as a preferred manner to deal with that offence (s. 2�2(�)). however, s. 2�2(2) gives specific provision for an officer to arrest without a warrant for a domestic violence offence (see above). This provision notwithstanding, officers should consider whether a summons is a more appropriate means to bring the matter to court. a summons may be relevant if, for example, the victim has moved interstate and is not at risk of harassment or harm. a caution may be issued where sufficient evidence that an offence has been committed exists and, in the officer’s view, a caution is appropriate to the circumstance, for example, if the offender is a young

38 The study by Jones and Belknap (�999) of the effect of a pro-arrest policy in one Us jurisdiction found more consistent decision-making amongst officers across divisions, and that there were fewer cases where factors outside the legal system dissuaded officers from making a custodial arrest.

39 From �998–2006, the number of FV charges brought before the acT Magistrates court increased 75%. see holder and caruana (2006).

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person and/or the offence is of a minor nature.40 Other formal actions that are at a police officer’s discretion include an arrest for breach of the peace,4� or taking a person into police or protective custody under the Mental Health (Treatment and Care) Act 1994 or the Intoxicated People (Care and Protection) Act 1994.

For domestic violence incidents, the acTP policy is ‘pro-arrest’. ‘Pro-arrest’ means that arrest is the preferred option for putting an alleged offender before the court when the officer has made the decision to charge. The decision to arrest always remains at the officer’s discretion and should be made in consideration with legislative powers, victim safety and protection, and the provision of opportunities for offender accountability and rehabilitation (anderson & Munstermann 2003).

The acT police/prosecution training manual on family violence emphasises that officers should not confuse discretion with a lack of accountability. Officers will always be required to justify each decision and each action taken. The manual goes on to provide a number of reasons why arrest is the preferred option for dealing with a family violence offence (anderson & Munstermann 2003, p. 4�). Reasons include the following.

• Processes such as summons, VaTac and fresh charge cannot take account of victim safety. Whereas an arrest matter will come into the court system within a maximum of 48 hours, the other processes can take anything from � to 3 months. conditions on bail at court are also highly unlikely with the processes other than arrest.

40 a caution requires that there be sufficient evidence to justify a charge. No conditions about a person’s behaviour can be placed on the issue of a caution, nor directions to carry out or not carry out anything. When issuing a caution (which does not require any ‘official’ paperwork in the acT) an officer should inform the person that they have been cautioned for that offence and that, if they come to police attention again for another offence, they may not receive another caution. a caution does not create a criminal record but is entered onto the police computer. a diversionary conference requires that there be a sufficient level of evidence to warrant a charge and a full and frank admission. a diversionary conference is not available for domestic violence cases in the acT.

4� Breach of the peace is a common law power that is preventive and not punitive. The possibility of a breach of the peace existing occurs when there is some imminent possibility of violence. This is likely to involve actual harm to a person or damage to a property. There need not be evidence that an offence has been committed. The breach of the peace need not be in public. an officer may arrest for a breach of the peace, take the arrestee into custody and require that person to sign an undertaking to keep the peace (anderson & Munstermann 2003, pp. �24–5).

• a faster time into court occurs with an acknowledgement that legal intervention can increase the risks to victims in the short term.

• Fast tracking can increase victim safety by reducing the time the matter is kept ‘in the system’.

• Fast tracking ensures fairness to the offender by ensuring the fastest possible resolution (either way).

• a longer time frame to resolution increases the stress on victim, offender and their family, especially if they continue to reside together.

• Offender accountability is effectively addressed from the point of police intervention through to court appearances.

• The best opportunities for offender rehabilitation are provided early in the process and mandated by the court.

• supervision of an offender on bail also helps address concerns about victim safety.

• a slower time to court is not necessarily doing any favours to the ‘cooperative’ offender.

an arrest can also take place at the scene or, if the conditions apply, at a later date when sufficient evidence has been adduced to warrant a charge. Upon arrest, a person is taken immediately into police custody. Whether a person is granted bail from the police watch-house is subject to different criteria under the acT Bail Act 1992 from those criteria applied by the court. Under section 9F the authorised officer ‘must not grant bail to the person unless satisfied that the person poses no danger to a protected person while released on bail’. When an offender makes a first appearance before the court there is a general presumption for bail.

These different presumptions operate regardless of the age of the detainee. The consequence of this has been the subject of some controversy in the acT. The lack of suitable bail accommodation for young persons arrested for an offence in effect means that they are usually bailed to a juvenile detention centre. The detention of young people in this manner is a consequence of the provisions of the Bail Act and not of the arrest decision under the Crimes Act. each is a separate decision made on different criteria. Where an alleged offender is a child or young person under the age of �8 years

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different considerations come into play. Whilst the Crimes Act remains the predominant legislation, the Children and Young Persons Act 1999 obliges officers to arrest ‘as a last resort’. These issues were the subject of extensive consideration within the FVIP during 2002 and remain contentious.

In summary, the interpretation of data on police response to family violence reported to them needs to take account of the complex interplay of a number of factors: that is, the circumstance of the incident itself, the disclosures of the parties, evidence as it is identified or becomes apparent, and the legislative framework that provides a set of threshold criteria for each aspect of officer decision-making.

Monitoring police decision-makingThe Family Violence Intervention Program in the acT has placed officer decision-making at family violence incidents under a higher and more sustained level of monitoring and review than in any australian jurisdiction.

This does not mean, however, that all participating agencies are in agreement all the time with all officers’ decisions. community and other agencies external to police have responsibilities towards victims of domestic violence. The Domestic Violence crisis service (DVcs) has a central role to support and advocate for any victim of domestic violence. The Victims of crime coordinator (Vocc) has statutory responsibility under the Victims of Crime Act 1994 to receive and investigate complaints by victims of crime that they have not received their rights under that legislation, and to report to the acT attorney General. Other agencies, such as the Legal aid commission, have an interest in protecting the rights of the accused. In essence there are a number of internal and external checks to the decision-making of individual police officers. To this day, these agencies continue to exercise their responsibilities to their clients, whether victim or perpetrator, and to utilise the various mechanisms available to review officer decisions where they have a concern about that decision.

During the FVIP Phase II, the Family Violence sergeant used the monitoring role to generate analytical reports. These reports changed the way in which agencies participating in the FVIP considered police data. The reports (Figure 6) revealed a way of grouping the incidents in a manner that reflected police operational thinking about domestic violence as a law enforcement issue: that is, whether there

was an offence disclosed or identified and the action taken, or whether there was insufficient evidence of an offence, or whether enquiries were continuing. The charts also revealed that officers utilised a number of authorised avenues other than arrest and charge through which to dispose of domestic violence incidents (see below for discussion on police powers).

The transparency of acTP with their data during that pilot phase served to open the thinking of other agencies, especially those working with victims, as to the complexity of the incidents that officers attended and the diversity of the options officers had at their disposal in response to particular circumstances.

Formal and informal police actionsThe evaluation of Phase II of the FVIP suggested that officers in the pilot patrol of Woden were more assertive in their use of criminal sanction than were officers in other patrols (Urbis Keys Young 200�, pp. 36, 54). The categorisation of incident outcomes developed in the Woden patrol, that is between ‘formal’ outcomes and ‘informal’ outcomes, is continued in this research report.

A formal action includes a decision taken to institute criminal proceedings under the acT Crimes Act 1900: that is, an arrest, summons, VaTac, caution, FIWT, fresh charge, a transfer to another jurisdiction for charging or some other outcome relating to an assessment of the evidence.

It also includes any lawful action to protect a vulnerable person, to detain a person or to prevent something: that is, an application for an ePO (emergency Protection Order under the Domestic Violence and Protection Orders Act 2001),42 outstanding warrants actioned, and action where a person is intoxicated, or where emergency mental health intervention is required.

Informal action may include a referral to a third agency being, for example, the Domestic Violence crisis service, Family services, supportlink,43 or the Mental health crisis Team (MhcT).

42 acTP Best Practice Guide on FV directs officers to first consider the options open to them under the criminal law. an application for an emergency protection order is very constrained under acT legislation. For officers to apply for a protection order on behalf of another person has not been regarded as an indicator of positive police intervention in the acT as it is in other jurisdictions.

43 supportlink systems PLc is a not-for-profit community based organisation that provides a mechanism for police to refer a range of matters to an appropriate and relevant welfare service (with the consent of the persons involved).

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Many domestic violence incidents attended by police, especially those that are more serious in nature, involve a variety of formal and informal actions by way of response. For the purposes of this section (and in the database) only the most serious action taken has been counted and each incident is used only once to determine this.

Formal action – criminal and other

There were �6�6 spouse/ex-spouse incidents in 200�–02, �370 in 2002–03 and �05� in 2003–04. Figure 7 shows that in 2003–04, no offence was disclosed in 32% of incidents, there was insufficient evidence in 3�%, and criminal action was taken in 29% (n=3�0) of incidents.44 This is considered the most serious action taken. ‘Other formal action’, constituting 7% in 2003–04, can include a range of other interventions authorised by law.

‘Insufficient evidence’ is a descriptor that indicates that police were of the view that it was probable

44 In a pre- and post-analysis of police records of all family violence incidents in the pilot patrol area of Woden, ‘action taken’ involved 47% of incidents attended (up from 27% in the pre-test data). The proportion of all family violence incidents at Woden that resulted in an arrest was 27% (up from �6% in the pre-test data). This analysis did not make a distinction between ‘formal action’ taken and ‘informal action’ taken (Urbis Keys Young 200�, p. 54). a Us study of a pilot police specialisation found that of 4004 incidents of intimate partner violence over an �8 month period, 979 (24.25%) resulted in an arrest (Whetstone 200�).

that an offence was committed but that there was insufficient evidence for them to consider a charge at that time. This is considered the second most serious category of ‘formal action’. as a descriptor, ‘no offence disclosed’ is where police decide, on the description of the incident provided by the parties combined with their own observations, that no offence characterised the incident.

This distribution for domestic violence reflects a considerable difference from all family violence incidents where, for 2003–04, no offence was disclosed in 5�% of incidents, there was insufficient evidence in 26%, and criminal action was taken in �6% of all family violence incidents (Taylor 2006, p. a6).

The range of criminal charges that officers laid against an identified offender in domestic violence incidents are broad, as shown in Figure 8. an incident may give rise to a number of charges. Most commonly, one or two charges would be laid. For the few incidents where there were more than five charges, an assortment reflecting the variety and severity of the charges was chosen for the database. Of the 3�0 incidents where criminal action was taken in 2003–04, 63� charges arose. Figure 8 shows that, in all years, common assault was the most common charge (average 35% of all charges over three years), breach of a domestic violence order being the next most common (average �7%), and property offences the third most common (average �3%).

Figure 6: Woden Patrol family violence incidents June 2000 to June 2001

No offence 37% =147 Arrest

53% =108

Caution8% =17

Breach of the Peace 12% =24

MHCT 9% =18

FIWT 6% =12

Family Services 3% =6

Summons 3% =6

Diplomatic immunity 0% =1

Charged before Court 3% =6Intoxication 1% =3

VATAC 1% =2

Total Incidents =399

Action taken51% =203

Insu�cient evidence12% =46

Inquiries continuing 1% =3

Sour

ce: A

CT P

olic

ing

(AFP

)

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When a criminal offence has been identified, and a charge(s) considered, the next decision is how to bring that charge to court. as stated previously, the policy position of acT Policing is pro-charge and pro-arrest. Figure 9 shows this policy in effect where nearly two thirds of matters are dealt with by way of arrest. That is, 69% in 200�–02, 76% in 2002–03, and 83% in 2003–04.

Other formal action (Figure �0) could include an application for an emergency Protection Order, taking action on outstanding warrants or taking breach of the peace action. The numbers, �88 in 200�–02, �29 in 2002–03, and 8� in 2003–04, remain a relatively small proportion.

Action appropriate to the incident?In his overview of studies into police decision-making at domestic violence incidents in the Us, Kane (�999, p. 67) noted that the various studies found different correlates to arrest. The conceptual frameworks of the various studies examined the situational context, victim-specific variables and offender-specific characteristics. Kane considered that the ‘assorted methodological and analytical techniques used by past researchers’ made it difficult to reach firm conclusions.

however, the review and primary research conducted by Robinson and chandek (2000b, p. 33) into ‘the domestic violence arrest decision’ concluded ‘that situational characteristics were still more important predictors of the arrest decision than were individual attitudes of officers regarding victims or domestic violence in general.

The Queensland crime and Misconduct commission’s research into this area noted that ‘some officers would assert that some of the jobs identified as domestic violence were minor verbal arguments, or had little likelihood of happening again’ (cMc 2005, p. 38). however, the QPs DV Index does not carry information sufficient to provide an incident descriptor to support these assertions.

The acTP FV Database, on the other hand, was designed to capture two measures of the content of the incident. That is, ‘confirmed incident type’ and ‘incident description’. Looking back at Figure 4, confirmed incident type, we see that four of the ‘types’ could constitute an allegation of a criminal offence. That is, assault, breach DVO, criminal damage, and sexual assault. Together the incidents comprising these four potential offence areas are 35% (n=367) of incidents in 2003–04. The proportion is similar across all three years.

Figure 7: Outcome of incidents (percentage)

No offencedisclosed

Insufficientevidence

Criminal actiontaken

Other

Percen

tage

2001-02 2002-03 2003-04

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

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Figure 8: Criminal charges laid by type of charge (percentage)

Figure 9: Types of criminal action taken (percentage)

Percentage

2001-02 2002-03 2003-04

Other

Unlawful con�nement

Resisting Police

Acts endangering life

Theft/burglery

Property o�ences

Weapon o�ences

Driving o�ences

Sexual o�ences

Threat to kill/in�ict GBH

Stalking

Breach

GBH

ABH

Common assault

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

Arrest Summons VATAC Caution FIWT Fresh Othercharge

Percen

tage

2001-02 2002-03 2003-04

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

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a similar pattern is revealed when examining the second method of incident description at Figure 5. The descriptive incident definition of ‘verbal and physical’ and ‘property damage’ could, on the surface, constitute allegations of criminal conduct made to the police by either of the parties. Taking these two together comprises an average 45% of the total across all three years. It needs to be remembered that this particular method of incident description is an analyst’s construction. This report has taken a conservative view, from those descriptors, of what may constitute criminal conduct. Readers will note that incidents described as ‘refuse to leave’ or ‘phone/letter/email’ may constitute an offence if, for example, the terms of any protection order prohibited such contact.

Formal action – criminal and ‘other formal’ – was taken in on average 30% of instances of domestic violence in the acT across all three years. an

interpretation can thus be drawn that while police may assess that an incident might constitute an offence (45% of incidents), they nonetheless make a narrower judgement when defining ‘confirmed incident type’ (35%), and then a still narrower judgement as to whether the evidence contained within the incident is sufficient to justify taking some formal action including criminal action (30%).

On the surface, there appears to be a broad statistical correlation between the incident descriptors and the proportion in which formal action was taken. But what of the specific detail?45

a comparison over a three year period of incidents where no offence was disclosed to police with those incidents where criminal action was taken reveals considerable difference (Table 3).

45 see appendix D for the raw data informing these discussions.

Figure 10: Other formal actions taken (percentage)

Breach of EPO Outstanding Intoxication Otherwarrants

Percen

tage

2001-02 2002-03 2003-04

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

peace

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Table 3: Outcomes according to incident descriptions and content 2001–04

dV When criminal action arising

dV When no offence disclosed

��96 total incidents where criminal action taken

�752 total incidents where no offence disclosed to police

�0.6% (�27) verbal only 36% (632) verbal only

6�% (73�) verbal & physical

�4% (245) verbal & physical

��.2% (�34) property damage

7% (�23) property damage

72% (860) confirmed offence incident*

9% (�53) confirmed offence incident*

48.5% (580) injury present 6.5% (��4) injury present

�0% (�20) weapon present

2.5% (44) weapon present

47% (563) offender present

37% (655) offender present

57.4% (687) spouse-on-spouse relationship

42% (737) spouse-on-spouse relationship

34.5% (4�3) alcohol present

24% (425) alcohol present

97% (��64) cooperative victim

97% (�692) cooperative victim

Source: ACT Policing (AFP) Note: ‘Confirmed offence incident’ includes those incidents categorised in PROMIS after officer attendance at the incident as assault, breach DVO, criminal damage, and sexual assault. These do not describe actual charges.

clearly, those incidents where criminal action was taken are far more likely to be described as ‘verbal and physical’ or ‘property damage’ than are those incidents where no offence was disclosed to the police. This finding is supported by data describing whether the incident was confirmed by police as involving an allegation of a criminal offence. 72% of domestic violence incidents giving rise to criminal action were confirmed as including allegations of assault, breach DVO, criminal damage or sexual assault. however, in only 9% of those incidents where police records state that no offence was disclosed did police records confirm that a criminal offence allegation was made.

Where criminal action arose from domestic violence incidents, the incidents were significantly more likely to include the presence of injury, a weapon, alcohol and the suspect. They were also more likely to be spouse-on-spouse incidents. This pattern

is significantly reversed for those incidents where no offence was disclosed to police. The level of cooperation of the victim and whether or not the action was requested does not appear to make a difference to the outcome decision made by police.46

These findings provide strong evidence that police in the acT largely make decisions on taking criminal action in domestic violence based on the circum-stances of the incident and the presence of specific situational factors that may go to support a charge of criminal conduct. This supports the conclusion by Robinson and chandek (2000b) and others.

a more accurate analysis of the appropriateness of police action would involve a case by case examination. however, the acTP FV Database was not designed to track incidents and outcomes. It provides a very broad brush statistical correlation.

Does gender make a difference in the incident and the outcome?In common with other studies, adult males are the most commonly identified offender in domestic violence incidents attended by police in the acT. Over three years, 83% of incidents involved male offenders.

While there were some similarities in male and female offending, notably in the high proportion where the incident constituted a disturbance, there are some significant differences as shown in Tables 4–6. Male offenders were more likely to be involved in incidents described as verbal and physical, and property damage. This carried through into the confirmed incident type where males are significantly more likely to assault in a domestic violence incident. The combined confirmed offence incident types constitute 39% of incidents involving male offenders and 20% involving female offenders.

The higher level of incidents involving male offenders that were confirmed offence types carried through into police decision-making. Over the three year period, where criminal action was taken by police, 93% of offenders were male; where arrest occurred, 93% of offenders were male.

46 In his Boston study, Kane (�999, p. 74) noted that the potential risk to a victim was a strong driver in the arrest decision. as risk levels decreased, the rates of arrest became more variable because the police appear to have had greater latitude in disposing the cases, a tendency borne out in the acT study.

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Table 4: Incident description for male and female offenders 2001–04

Incident description

Male offenders

Female offenders

Verbal 668 (2�%) �52 (24%)

Verbal & physical ��79 (37%) �85 (29%)

Property damage 33� (�0%) 96 (�5%)

Refuse to leave 3�2 (�0%) 44 (7%)

custody/access 59 (2%) 43 (7%)

Phone/letter/email 382 (�2%) 7� (��%)

Other 288 (9%) 5� (8%)

Total 3219 (100%) 642 (100%)

Source: ACT Policing (AFP)

Table 5: Confirmed incident type for male and female offenders 2001–04

Confirmed Incident Type

Male offenders Female offenders

assault 695 (2�.6%) 59 (9%)

Breach DVO 437 (�3.6%) 55 (9%)

check premises 3�3 (9.7%) 69 (��%)

criminal damage 80 (2.5%) 25 (4%)

Disturbance �086 (33.8%) 268 (42%)

Nuisance �08 (3.5%) 38 (6%)

Psychiatric �8 (0.6%) 23 (4%)

Routine �2� (3.7%) 2� (3%)

sexual assault 29 (0.9%) 0 (0%)

suspicious 45 (�.4%) 2 (0.3%)

Other 28� (8.7%) 82 (�3%)

Total 3213 (100%) 642 (100%)

Source: ACT Policing (AFP)

alcohol is involved in about a third of incidents involving both male and female offenders, and there is no significant difference in injury arising from incidents involving male or female offenders. however, there is a slightly higher level of weapons present in incidents involving a female offender (�3%) than male offenders (6%). a slightly higher proportion of incidents involving female offenders are spouse/ex-spouse (58%), than those involving male offenders (53%). Female offenders are also more likely to be present at the scene when police attend (50%) as opposed to male offenders (37%).

Table 6: Factors present in incidents involving male and female offenders 2001-04

Incident factor

Male offenders * Female offenders **

suspect present

��94 (37% of 32�7 incidents)

320 (50% of 642 incidents)

ex-spouse incident

�698 (53% of 32�9 incidents)

374 (58%)

alcohol present

865 (27% of 32�9 incidents)

�42 (22%)

No weapon 3029 (94% of 322� incidents)

569 (87%)

No injury 3078 (96% of 32�5 incidents)

599 (93% of 640 incidents)

* In six incidents involving male offenders over 2001-04 relevant data was missing.

** In two incidents involving female offenders over 2001-04 relevant data was missing. Source: ACT Policing (AFP)

Implications and conclusionsThe statistical research presented in this paper provides significant support to other studies conducted outside australia regarding police decision-making at domestic violence incidents. These conclude that police decisions about what actions to take in relation to domestic violence relate strongly to situational factors.

In the acT, some of the situational factors influencing the arrest decision include the allegation of conduct that suggests an offence, especially physical violence; the presence of injury and use of a weapon; and whether the suspect is at the scene. similar qualitative findings for Queensland Police were found by the crime and Misconduct commission (2005). Both sets of findings throw doubt on opinion that attitudinal and non-legal factors have a greater influence on police decision-making in relation to domestic violence than do situational factors (smith, Novak, Frank & Lowenkamp 2005).47

Police in the acT employ the use of criminal action as an intervention in domestic violence in about a third of reported incidents. This practice has significantly increased over the years since the commencement of the inter-agency Family Violence Intervention Program in �998. The acT community

47 This study, designed to examine the contribution of officer and community factors on decisions to engage in a variety of typical police activities, concludes that the individual-level attributes of officers did not influence activity choices.

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Law Reform committee reported in �995 that the ‘most startling information gathered out of [their] research project’ was that police laid criminal charges in only 6% of domestic violence cases that they attended (Mugford, easteal & edwards �993, p. 2�). The more pro-active intervention of police in the acT has resulted in a �63% increase since �998 of the number of defendants charged with domestic and family violence offences brought before the court (holder & caruana 2006).

The higher degree of predictability and consistency in police responses in the acT has significant benefits for victims of domestic violence. In the Urbis Keys Young (200�) evaluation of the FVIP, 74% of victims expressed satisfaction with the police response. as one woman commented: ‘It made [my partner] realise that he could no longer do whatever he wanted. I would call the police and they would do something’ (DVcs client evaluation Report undated).

Whether victims of domestic violence feel that charge and prosecution worked for them is one of the critical questions confronting the FVIP in the acT. In 2003, 29% of clients of the DVcs surveyed said that they had a domestic violence offence prosecuted before the court. Of those whose partner was prosecuted 66% felt it was beneficial to them (DVcs client evaluation Report undated). One woman commented that the process was ‘quicker than I expected and although disappointed with outcome, now think it got the problem away from me’. In 2005, the proportion of clients who had had a matter prosecuted and found the process beneficial increased slightly to 69%. One client commented that she found it ‘absolutely positive! He wasn’t going to stop until I involved the Police, I can see that now’.

This remarkable shift in outcomes within the acT since �998 results largely from changes to practice within the police service, influenced by their interaction with other agencies within the FVIP. Focus groups and consultation with police officers in the early development of the FVIP identified specific problems for them in responding to domestic violence.48 Overwhelmingly these related to their role and function within the criminal justice process. In particular, officers indicated that there was no guidance on decision-making where the victim of the offence became reluctant or sought to retract the allegation. Officers also expressed considerable frustration at what they perceived to be the absence of ‘back-up’ by other practitioners in the criminal system and in particular by prosecutors. Police making the decision to arrest

48 Information on file with the author.

and charge spoke of the many instances where prosecutors later ‘dropped’ or ‘dismissed’ charges. Finally, officers spoke of their dissatisfaction with the availability of investigative resources and access to information critical to cases. The independent evaluation of Phase II of the FVIP (Urbis Keys Young 200�) describes the measures taken to address these problems.

The acT FVIP is a coordinated criminal justice response to domestic and family violence reported to police. Within that program, some factors that have influenced the shift in police practice include:

• a focus on resourcing, training and equipping officers to conduct criminal investigations at the scene of a domestic violence incident

• the emphasis on the primary role of police as criminal law enforcement as opposed to being applicants for protection orders

• strengthened communication with specialist prosecutors about charge decisions and brief preparation

• strong and sustained leadership from within police management

• clarification of the essential police function of law enforcement within a coordinated and inter-agency program devoted to improving criminal justice intervention

• internal and external case monitoring designed to reinforce, support and improve the exercise of an officer’s discretion

• strong collaboration on victim liaison and support with the Domestic Violence crisis service

• investment in data analysis and knowledge generation, and its integration into training and agency developments

• sustained and planned focus on continual improvement.

There is great diversity in justice responses to domestic and family violence in other australian jurisdictions, ranging from diversionary options to the application of civil protections. For the acT the decision to invest heavily over the past seven years in improving the response of the criminal justice system does not presume that it is a ‘solution’ to domestic and family violence. however, it does presume that criminal justice agencies carry a profound responsibility to protect life and to deal with criminal offending effectively. On that basis alone it is an investment worth making.

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ACknoWLEdGEMEnTS

This paper was written by Robyn holder with sgt sue eggers. The research could not have been conducted without the foresight and commitment of Detective superintendent chris Lines in establishing and fostering the acTP Family Violence Database. aFP research assistant Ingrid Johnston created the database; analysts Tania Bierzonski-Burczyk and Therese hackwill continued its development, and shona Butler has been tireless in inputting the data. Dr Tony Murney committed the aFP to publication of the data and Detective superintendent ann Mcevoy, sgt erin Pobar and sgt Dee Quigley have pressed it to completion. This research relies heavily upon analysis of the Family Violence Database conducted Dr Natalie Taylor at the australian Institute of criminology. her professionalism and expertise is gratefully appreciated.

Our thanks go to colleagues in the acT Family Violence Intervention Program for their patience in waiting for this research and their questions that prompted it. special thanks also to Dr amanda Robinson of the University of cardiff, Wales, for her insightful comments. The views expressed are the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the australian Federal Police (acT Policing).sE

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Felson, R, ackerman, J & Gallagher, c 2005, ‘Police intervention and the repeat of domestic assault’, Criminology, august 2005, vol. 43, no. 3, p. 563.

Felson, R, Messner, s hoskin, a & Deane, G 2002, ‘Reasons for reporting and non-reporting to the police’, Criminology, vol. 40, no. 3, pp. 6�7–48.

Ferrante, a, Morgan, F, Indermaur, D & harding, R �996, Measuring the. extent of domestic violence, hawkins Press, sydney.

Ferraro, K �989, ‘Policing woman battering’, Social Problems, vol. 36, no. �, pp. 6�–74.

Finkelhor, D, Gelles, RJ & hotaling GT �983, The dark side of families: current family violence research, sage, Thousand Oaks, ca.

Gamache, DJ, edleson, Jl & schock, MD �988, ‘coordinated police, judicial and social service response to woman battering: a multi-baseline evaluation across three communities’, in GT hotaling, D Finkelhor, JT Kirkpatrick & M straus (eds), Coping with family violence: research and policy perspectives, sage, Newbury Park ca, pp. �93–209.

Garner, Jh & Maxwell, cD 2000, ‘What are the lessons of the police arrest studies?’ in sK Ward & D Finkelhor (eds) Program evaluation and family violence research, The haworth Press, Binghampton, NY.

Gelles, RJ �993, ‘constraints against family violence: how well do they work?’, American Behavioural Scientist, vol. 36, no. 5, pp. 575–86.

Grace, s �995, Policing domestic violence in the 1990s, home Office Research study No. �39, hMsO, London.

Grabosky, P �989, Victims of violence, Monograph No. 2, australian Institute of criminology, canberra.

hanmer, J, Radford, J & stanko, e. (eds), �989, Women, policing and male violence, Routledge, London.

hart, B �993, ‘Battered women and the criminal justice system’, American Behavioural Scientist, vol. 36, pp. 624–38.

hatty, s �989, ‘Policing and male violence in australia’, in hanmer et.al., �989.

hirschel, D, hutchison, IW & Dean, cW �99�, Charlotte spouse assault replication project: Final Report, Us Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice, Washington, Dc.

hutchison, IW & hirschel, D �994, ‘Limitations in the pro-arrest response to spouse abuse’, Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, vol. �0, no. 3, pp. �47–63.

holder, R 2006, ‘The emperor’s new clothes: court and justice initiatives to address family violence’, Australian Journal of Judicial Administration, vol. �6, no. �)

holder, R & caruana, J 2006, Criminal justice intervention in family violence in the ACT, acT Department of Justice and community safety, canberra.

holder, R 200�, Domestic and family violence: criminal justice interventions, Issues Paper 3, australian Domestic and Family Violence clearinghouse, sydney.

holder, R & Mayo, N July 2003, ‘What do women want? Prosecuting family violence in the acT’, Current Issues in Criminal Justice, vol. �5, no. �, Institute of criminology, sydney.

hopkins, a & McGregor, h �99�, Working for change: the movement against domestic violence, allen & Unwin, sydney.

hoyle, c �998, Negotiating domestic violence, clarendon Press, Oxford.

hoyle, c & sanders, a 2000, ‘Police response to domestic violence: from victim choice to victim empowerment?’, British Journal of Criminology, vol. 40, pp. �4–36.

Jaffe, PG, hastings, e, Reitzel, D & austin, G �993, ‘The impact of police laying charges’, in NZ hilton (ed.), Legal responses to wife assault, sage, Thousand Oaks, ca.

James, N �994, Domestic violence: a history of arrest policies and a survey of modern laws’, Family Law Quarterly, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 509–20.

Jones, Da & Belknap, J �999, ‘Police responses to battering in a progressive pro-arrest jurisdiction’, Justice Quarterly, vol. �6, no. 2, pp. 249–73.

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Kane, RJ �999, ‘Patterns of arrest in domestic violence encounters: identifying a police decision-making model’, Journal of Criminal Justice, vol. 27, no. �, pp. 65–79.

Katzen, h & Kelly, L 2000, ‘How do I prove I saw his shadow?’ Responses to breaches of Apprehended Violence Orders: a consultation with women and police in the Richmond Local Area Command of NSW, Northern Rivers community Legal centre, Lismore.

Kelly, L �999, Domestic violence matters: an evaluation of a development project, Research study �93, home Office, London.

Keys Young 2000, Evaluation of ACT Interagency Family Violence Intervention Program, Partnerships against Domestic Violence, commonwealth of australia, canberra.

Klinger, Da �995, ‘Policing spousal assault’, Journal of Research into Crime and Delinquency, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 308–24.

Langan, Pa and Innes, ca �986, Preventing domestic violence against women, special Report, Bureau of Justice statistics, United states Department of Justice, NcJ-�02037, Washington.

Lines, c 2003, ‘system change in bite-sized chunks: domestic violence revisited in the acT’, Platypus Magazine, australian Federal Police, canberra, no. 78, pp. 32–7.

Lloyd, s, Farrell, G & Pease, K �994, Preventing repeated domestic violence: a demonstration project on Merseyside, home Office crime Prevention Unit Paper 49, hMsO, London.

Manning, PK �993, ‘The preventive conceit: the black box in market context’, American Behavioural Scientist, vol. 36, no. 5, pp. 639–50.

Marcus, G & Braaf, R 2007, Domestic and Family Violence Studies, Surveys and Statistics: Pointers to Policy and Practice, stakeholder Paper �, australian Domestic & Family Violence clearinghouse, sydney

Maxwell, c and Garner, J 2002, ‘The preventive effects of arrest on intimate partner violence: research, policy, and theory’, Criminology and Public Policy, vol. 2, no. �, pp. 5�–80.

Mills, L �999, ‘Killing her softly: intimate abuse and the violence of state intervention’, Harvard Law Review, vol. ��3, no. 2, pp. 550–6�3.

Mouzos, J and Makkai, T 2004, ‘Women’s experiences of male violence: findings from the Australian component of the International Violence Against Women Survey (IVAWS)’, Research & Policy series No. 56, australian Institute of criminology, canberra.

Mugford, J, easteal, P & edwards, a �993, ACT Domestic Violence Research: Report to the ACT Community Law Reform Committee, acT attorney General’s Department, canberra.

Mulroney, J 2003, Australian Statistics on Domestic Violence, australian Domestic and Family Violence

clearinghouse Topic Paper, australian Domestic and Family Violence clearinghouse, sydney.

Munzel, c 2003, Police responses to family violence from a women’s perspective, australasian centre for Policing Research, Marden, sa

Murphy, cM, Musser, Ph & Maton, KI �998, ‘coordinated community intervention for domestic abusers: intervention system involvement and criminal recidivism’, Journal of Family Violence, vol. �3, no. 3, pp. 263–84.

NsW Ombudsman �999 (December), The policing of domestic violence in NSW: a special report to Parliament under s. 31 of the Ombudsman Act, NsW Ombudsman, sydney.

Obenauf, M �999, ‘The isolation abyss: a case against mandatory prosecution’, UCLA Women’s Law Journal, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 263–300.

Ombudsman Western australia 2003, An investigation into the police response to assault in the family home, Ombudsman Western australia, Perth.

Pagelow, MD �98�, Woman-battering: victims and their experiences, sage, Beverly hills, ca.

Pate, a, hamilton, e, & annan, s �99�, Metro-Dade Spouse Assault Replication Project: draft final report, The Police Foundation, Washington.

Pate, aM, & hamilton, ee �992, ‘Formal and informal deterrents to domestic violence: the Dade county spouse assault experiment’, American Sociological Review, vol. 57, no. 5, pp. 69�–7.

Pence, e & Lizdas, K �998, The Duluth Safety and Accountability Audit, Minnesota Program Development, Duluth, MN.

People, J 2005, Trends and patterns in domestic violence assaults, Bureau of crime statistics and Research crime and Justice Bulletin No. 89, NsW Bureau of crime and statistics, sydney.

Plotnikoff, J & Woolfson, R �998, Policing domestic violence: effective organisational structures, Police Research series Paper �00, home Office, London.

Putt, J & higgins, K �997, Violence against women in Australia: key research and data issues, Research and Public Policy series No. 6, australian Institute of criminology, canberra.

Robinson, aL �999, ‘conflicting consensus: public reaction to a domestic violence pro-arrest policy’, Women and Criminal Justice, vol. �0, no. 3, pp. 95–�20.

Robinson, aL & chandek, Ms (2000a), ‘Differential police response to black battered women’, Women and Criminal Justice, vol. �2, nos. 2–3, pp. 29–6�.

Robinson, aL & chandek, Ms 2000b, The domestic violence arrest decision: examining demographic, attitudinal and situational variables’, Crime and Delinquency, vol. 46, no. �, pp. �8–37.

Rodgers, K �994, ‘Wife assault: the findings of a national survey’, Juristat Service Bulletin, canadian centre for Justice statistics, statistics canada.

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Ruttenberg, M �994, ‘a feminist critique of mandatory arrest: an analysis of race and gender in domestic violence policy’, Journal of Gender, Social Policy and the Law, vol. 2, no. �.

saunders, DG & size, PB �986, ‘attitudes about woman abuse among police officers, victims, and victim advocates’, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, vol. �, no. �, pp. 25–42.

schmidt, JD & sherman, LW �996, ‘Does arrest deter domestic violence?’, in es Buzawa & cG Buzawa (eds), Do arrests and restraining orders work? sage, Thousand Oaks, ca.

scutt, J �983, Even in the best of homes, Penguin, Ringwood, Victoria.

seddon, N, �993, Domestic violence in Australia: the legal response, The Federation Press, sydney.

sherman, L & Berk, Ra, �984, ‘The specific deterrent effects of arrest for domestic assault’, American Sociological Review, vol. 49, no 2, pp. 26�–72.

sherman, L, schmidt, JD, Rogan, DP, Gartin, PR, cohn, eG, collins, DJ & Bacich, aR �99�, ‘From initial deterrence to long-term escalation: short-custody arrest for poverty ghetto domestic violence’, Criminology, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 82�–50.

sherman, LW, schmidt, JD & Rogan, DP �992, Policing domestic violence: experiments and dilemmas, Free Press, New York.

shoham, e 2000, ‘The battered wife’s perception of the characteristics of her encounter with police’, International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 242–57.

smith, B, Novak, K, Frank, J and Lowenkamp, c 2005, ‘explaining police officer discretionary activity’, Criminal Justice Review, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 325–46.

stalans, LJ �996, ‘Family harmony or individual protection?’, American Behavioural Scientist, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 433–48.

stalans, LJ & Finn, Ma �995, ‘how novice and experienced officers interpret wife assaults: normative and efficiency frames’, Law and Society Review, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 287–322.

stark, e �996, ‘Mandatory arrest of batterers: a reply to its critics’, In es Buzawa & cG Buzawa (eds) Do arrests and restraining orders work?, pp. ��5–49.

stephens, BJ & sinden, P 2000, ‘Victims’ voices: domestic assault victims’ perceptions of police demeanour’, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, vol. �5, no. 5, pp. 534–47.

stewart, a 200�a, ‘Policing domestic violence: an overview of emerging issues’, Police Practice and Research.

stewart, a 200�b, ‘can police prevent domestic violence?’ in D Farrington, c hollin & M McMurran (eds), Sex and Violence: the psychology of crimes and risk assessment, Routledge, London, pp. 2�0–28.

Taylor, N 2006, Analysis of family violence incidents 2002–2003 attended by ACT Policing, australian Institute of criminology, canberra.

Tolman, RM & Weisz, a �995, ‘coordinated community intervention for domestic violence: the effects of arrest & prosecution on recidivism of woman abuse perpetrators’, Crime and Delinquency, vol. 4�, no. 4, pp. 49�–95.

Trimboli, L & Bonney, R �997, An evaluation of the NSW Apprehended Violence Order Scheme, NsW Bureau of crime statistics and Research, sydney.

Urbis Keys Young 200�, Evaluation of the ACT Family Violence Intervention Program Phase II, Partnerships against Domestic Violence, commonwealth of australia, canberra.

van der Werken, T 2002, Domestic violence: policing the ‘new crime’ in the Northern Territory, Police in australia – Issues and innovations in australian policing (case studies), australian Institute of criminology, canberra.

Victimisation survey committee �997 Women’s Safety Survey, New Zealand.

Victoria Police (undated a), Trends in family violence incident reports 1996/97–1999/2000, Department of Justice, Melbourne.

Victoria Police (undated b), 2001–2002 Victoria Police Crime Statistics, Victoria Police, Melbourne.

Walsh, K �995, ‘The Mandatory arrest Law: police reaction’, PACE Law Review, vol. �6, no. �, pp. 97–�08.

Websdale, N & Johnson, B �997, ‘The policing of domestic violence in rural and urban areas: the voices of battered women in Kentucky’, Policing and Society, vol. 6.

Whetstone, Ts 200�, ‘Measuring the impact of a domestic violence coordinated response team’, Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 37�–98.

Wolf, M.e, Ly, U, hobart, Ma & Kernie, Ma 2003, ‘Barriers to seeking police help for intimate partner violence’, Journal of Family Violence, vol. �8, no. 2, pp. �2�–9.

Worden, R & Pollitz, a �984, ‘Police arrests in domestic disturbances: a further look’, Law and Society Review, vol. �8, no. �, pp. �05–20.

Wundersitz, J & hunter, N 200�, Assault by a family member, Information Bulletin No. 26, Office of crime statistics, adelaide.

Young, W., Morris, a., cameron, N. & haslett, s. �997, New Zealand National Survey of Crime Victims 1996, Victimisation survey committee, Wellington.

Zorza, J �994, ‘Must we stop arresting batterers?: analysis and policy implications of new police domestic violence studies’, New England Law Review, vol. 28, pp. 929–90.

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APPEndIx A: THE ACT FAMILY VIoLEnCE InTErVEnTIon ProGrAM

The Family Violence Intervention Program (FVIP) is a coordinated community and criminal justice response to family and domestic violence in the acT. The program began in �998 following community lobbying and a government law reform process. The FVIP is a developmental program. It has overarching inter-agency objectives and, under each planning cycle, participating agencies develop more detailed objectives specific to their core business. The FVIP has grown in phases:

Phase I (�998–99): a pilot phase which established a broad policy framework, baseline measures and interventions

Phase II (�999–200�): a research and development phase where new initiatives were tested and externally evaluated

Phase III (200�–03): a phase in which the leading practice model was extended to the whole acT Region

Phase IV (2003–05): a consolidation phase which linked the leading practice model with the identification of areas that might require a flexible response

Phase V (2005–08): a continuing phase which looks ahead to consolidating the specialist jurisdiction of the FVIP.

The FVIP is a functional integration of the activities of the police, prosecution, courts and corrections as comprising the criminal justice system; it coordinates externally with other key agencies, such as domestic violence advocacy services.

The FVIP is a concerted and sustained attempt to improve criminal justice responses to allegations of family violence in the acT. It operates at a macro level of policy, administrative and technological infrastructure and legislation, and at the micro level of case management, individual practitioner decision- making and the monitoring of those decisions.

From �998 to 2005, the core participating agencies have been the aFP, Office of the DPP, the Magistrates court, acT corrective services and Department of Justice and community safety; the independent offices of the Victims of crime coordinator and of Legal aid (acT); and the non-government DVcs

and Relationships australia.49 The Office of children, Youth and Family support (incorporating child Protection services) has assumed a more active role since 2004.

The government agencies and non-government organisations engaged in delivering the FVIP created common purpose through negotiated protocols signed in �998. These formally committed agencies to four overarching aims:

• to work together cooperatively and effectively

• to maximise safety and protection for victims of family violence

• to provide opportunities for offender accountability and rehabilitation

• to seek continual improvement (acT Government �998).

at a policy level, the FVIP rests upon the presumption that criminal justice agencies will intervene positively to allegations of family violence and act according to law and to the public interest. The core police policies are pro-arrest, pro-charge and with presumption against bail.50 The policy position of the Director of Public Prosecutions is pro-prosecution.5� acT corrective services act to promote offender accountability and rehabilitation. all agencies accept collective responsibility to improve victim safety and victim liaison.

The core components of the FVIP at an operational level include:

• developing consistent and inter-connecting policy frameworks

• creating specialist positions, procedures and practices within the mainstream of criminal processing

• implementing joint training between police and prosecution and including other practitioners

49 Relationships australia (canberra & region) provided under contract the Perpetrator education Program from �998 to 2005. subsequently, the program was reviewed and a new model is provided directly from within acT corrective services.

50 section 2�2(2) of the acT Crimes Act 1900 authorises police to arrest in ‘domestic violence offences’. This provision pre-dated the commencement of the FVIP. section 9F(2) of the acT Bail Act 1992 requires an authorised officer not to grant bail, where a person is accused of a domestic violence offence, unless the officer is satisfied that the person poses no danger to a protected person while released on bail.

5� The acT DPP Policy & Guidelines are at www.dpp.act.gov.au

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• equipping general duties police with Family Violence Investigator Kits

• creating information links to enable relevant and reliable information to be put to the court in oppositions to bail

• monitoring case decisions and implementing case management and case tracking procedures through the criminal system

• creating the specialist Family Violence case Management criminal List at court52

• implementing measures to promote victim safety, to provide victims with case status information and to allow for victim participation in proceedings

• implementing a perpetrator education program as a sentence option

• adopting strategic inter-agency program planning and coordination

• continuously collecting data, monitoring and evaluating.

since �998, the FVIP has evolved as a phased and strategic developmental program of system-wide change. In 200� the program achieved a certificate of Merit in the australian Violence Prevention awards. In 2002, the police and prosecution training program won an australian Violence Prevention award for the acT. In 2004, the perpetrator education program, ‘Learning to Relate Without Violence and abuse Program’, run by acT corrective services, Relationships australia and the DVcs also won an acT australian Violence Prevention award.

The FVIP has been recognised as a national benchmark in access to justice53 and was included in a report published by the UK Department of constitutional affairs on Specialist Courts (2004). In 2005, the FVIP won the acT community Benefit award from the australian Institute for Project Management.

52 The Magistrates court Practice Direction (2) of 2000 for Family Violence case Management hearings was revised and reissued in 2005.

53 Urbis Keys Young (2002).

APPEndIx B: TECHnICAL dESCrIPTIon oF

ACTP FV dATABASE

data identification in the FVIPThe identification by ‘tagging’ of all charges, summons or VaTacs that arise out of a family violence incident, was a key data reform when the FVIP began in �998. When the data collection project commenced, the only field in the police computer system to identify family violence was a discretionary one for the incident only. There was nothing that could identify which common assault charge or which criminal damage, for example, was a family violence offence and which incidents were not.54 This meant that agencies that are part of the criminal justice process – prosecution, courts and corrections – had no way of accurately identifying a family violence charge when it entered their systems. The reforms that the acT wanted to see happen simply could not take place when the family violence criminal cases were invisible.

acTP management agreed that, while making an electronic enhancement to the PROMIs database was the optimum goal, it was not going to happen easily or quickly. Therefore, a manual identification method was chosen. Where officers decided that a charge was the appropriate outcome for any given family violence incident, they were to stamp the bench-sheet file (the key document generated by police that forms the basic record for criminal proceedings)55 with a red stamp showing the encircled letters ‘FV’. copies of the bench-sheet are routinely generated to each of the Police Prosecution and Judicial support section, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and the Magistrates court. When the document enters the ODPP, it is filed in a new look file, boldly crossed with a broad pink slash for family violence matters. The matter enters the ODPP’s new internal specialist practice for family violence cases.

With regard to the court, the FVIP benefited from a pre-existing electronic link between acTP and the Magistrates court. all charges generated within PROMIs for any given day are downloaded overnight

54 The apprehensions screen in PROMIs now contains a mandatory family violence tickbox..

55 The bench-sheet comprises the police statement of facts, officer details, civilian witness details and any opposition to bail and after completion is included in a file.

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into the court computer system.56 each morning a court clerk checks the electronic entries against the paperwork (the bench-sheets). When the FVIP commenced, a screen was added to the court’s computer that asked the clerk to determine whether that charge was a family violence matter or not. When the clerk indicates ‘yes’ (a visual identification of the round red stamp), an electronic ‘tag’ is attached to that charge.

Through this method, a court-based case tracking and case management procedure has been instituted. This consists of weekly meetings of the key victim contact agencies (including the police and prosecution), the routine generation of lists comprising all criminal family violence matters before the court, and checking the progress of these against certain criteria.57 all family violence charges are then eventually brought together in the one special ‘list’ or jurisdiction. 58 all family violence charges also give rise to their own court file and are further marked with a large purple sticker with the letters ‘FV’ in white.

In Phase II of the FVIP (2000–02), the acT chief Magistrate implemented a Practice Direction for case managing family violence criminal matters that in effect has become a specialised Family Violence court. The new court listing practice of bringing all criminal family violence matters together in the one list could not have taken place without the police and the court having found a reasonably reliable method of identifying and tagging family violence charges, summons and VaTacs.59

56 The original acT Magistrates court as400 system has been superseded by MaX and is undergoing further development as a case management system.

57 Family violence case tracking is managed through the independent statutory office of the acT Victims of crime coordinator. all agencies participating in family violence case tracking meetings have some operational role in processing and/or responding to family violence criminal matters. Given privacy requirements, this role has a statutory or authorised basis. The criterion is that information is exchanged where it goes to the safety of a person (victim, child or perpetrator) in that matter, to the effective prosecution of the case or to compliance with a court order (bail, protection order or other).

58 The acT chief Magistrate’s Practice Direction (2000) established the Family Violence case Management hearing process.

59 Many jurisdictions in australia can count, in criminal proceedings, the number of charges involving a breach of a protection order. This method does not, however, pick up the full range of criminal charges arising from family violence incidents. In the acT, for example, the most common charge is common assault. Other common charges relate to criminal damage, trespass, unlawful confinement and sexual offences. These are all brought together in the Family Violence List through the electronic tag.

The ACTP Family Violence Statistical Database

acTP, with other participating agencies, provided data for the second evaluation of the FVIP (Urbis Keys Young 200�). as in the first evaluation, the method of extraction of police data involved a keyword search of PROMIs and a search of the discretionary family violence incident tickbox. The crime Prevention Portfolio of acTP, through which the police aspects of the FVIP are managed, embarked upon a unique data extraction initiative designed to provide an accurate statistical ‘snapshot’ of family violence incidents attended by police and an audit of the reliability of data recording and reporting.

The database was created using the sPss package and included 87 fields. analysts read through every and any ‘job’ of which police were notified in the acT, including an average of 8–�0 family violence incidents per day. The analysts then print any family violence incident and enter the details as statistical units onto the FV Database. If the case write-off does not contain sufficient details, for example, whether the DVcs was notified, then the relevant caD (computer aided Despatch) screen will also be downloaded. This is not, unfortunately, a contemporaneous extraction. The analysts are working about six months behind ‘real-time’.

What constitutes a family violence incident for entry onto the ACTP FV Database?

The first criterion for inclusion is that it is an incident notified to police or of which they have otherwise been made aware, that requires a police resource to attend or respond.

The second criterion is that the relationship of the parties to the incident, as a minimum, falls within the definition of a ‘relevant person’ under the acT Domestic Violence and Protection Orders Act 2001:60

relevant person, in relation to a person (the original person), means:

(a) a domestic partner6� of the original person

60 The legislation was amended in 2005 to become the Domestic Violence and Protection Orders Act 2001. a slight change to the definition of ‘relevant person’ was made. see www.legislation.act.gov.au

6� a ‘domestic partner’ and a ‘domestic partnership’ are defined in section �69 Part 2 Legislation Act 2001. The definitions were expanded, in an anti-discrimination drive by the acT Government in 2003, to encompass a wide range of intimate relationships.

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(b) a relative of the original person

(c) a child of a domestic partner of the original person or

(d) someone who normally lives, or normally lived, in the same household as the original person (other than as a tenant or boarder).

This legislative definition is a defining criterion under the FVIP. however, it fails to include cases involving relationships of intermittent or longer-term intimacy where the principals do not reside or have never resided together. For the purposes of a complete inclusion within the database, these cases were nonetheless included. This very broad definition includes matters where the parties are in a domestic partnership, where they are separated or divorced, where the victim or suspect is an adult or child, and in matters commonly referred to as ‘elder abuse’ or ‘child abuse’, and matters of abuse between siblings and between other family members.

a third criterion is that each incident is considered statistically independent. ‘Incident’ includes what happened immediately prior to police arrival and during police presence. Previous incidents between the involved parties that were reported to police are not combined into the one incident, even where the interval between the incidents was relatively short.

When entering details onto PROMIs about an incident, officers’ reports are not always full and comprehensive. In determining whether an incident is a family violence incident to be entered onto the database, the analysts were sometimes required to examine the particulars of the ‘write-off’ to determine whether there was a ‘relevant relationship’. In determining this, the analysts erred on the side of caution and included the incident as family violence.

The fact that an assault or some other criminal conduct was alleged was not a criterion for inclusion. acTP wanted to capture the full range of incidents to which their officers were called.

With this broader definition and the manual extraction, it was shown that the difference between the manual and electronic extraction methods is that the latter under-records family violence incidents by nearly 50% across the region.62

62 This degree of under-counting is not unusual. a study of a pilot police initiative in the Northern Territory that included specific directions as to recording, saw a �44% increase in identified domestic violence incidents over a six month period (van de Werken 2002, p. 6).

Variables included in the ACTP FV databaseThe research review conducted by Robinson and chandek (2000) into ‘the domestic violence arrest decision’ and the demographic, attitudinal and situational variables to that decision formed the basis of the acTP FV Database. The additional primary research, conducted by Robinson and chandek and incorporated within their review, supports their findings and the conclusions of others ‘that situational characteristics were still more important predictors of the arrest decision than were individual attitudes of officers regarding victims or domestic violence in general (Klinger �995; stalans & Finn �995; Robinson & chandek 2000, p. 33).

With this conclusion in mind, the database employed situational variables only. situational variables included some characteristics of the alleged victim and the alleged perpetrator, whether the suspect was present when police arrived, whether there were other witnesses, whether a weapon was involved and what type, the preference of the victim for or against arrest, and the presence and severity of injuries.

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APPEndIx C: oVErVIEW oF ALL FAMILY VIoLEnCE InCIdEnTS

rEPorTEd To And ATTEndEd BY PoLICE In THE ACT63

acTP attends 8–�0 family violence incidents in the acT per day, amounting to 36�8 in 200�–02, 3�88 in 2002–03 and 2793 in 2003–04: that is, approximately ��.25 incidents per �000 persons in the acT.64 The term family violence encompasses a wide range of intimate and family relationship categories including spouse/ex-spouse domestic violence.

The largest relationship category of FV incidents attended is for spouse/ex-spouse relationships.65 Other relationship categories within the FV Database are sibling on sibling, parent on child, child on parent, adult child on parent, parent on adult child, adult on parent-in-law, parent-in-law on adult and ‘other’. after the spousal category, the next largest category is adult child on parent violence.

In each of the three years 200�–02, 2002–03 and 2003–04, the majority of all family violence incidents attended by police were reported on the weekend with peak times being between �8.00 to 2�.00 hours. There is little fluctuation by month of reports of FV.

63 (Taylor 2006)64 NsW records 377.6 assault-domestic per �00,000 head of population

(Doak et al. 2003) and �200.9 per �00,000 for assault in general (aBs 2002).

65 Wundersitz and hunter (200�, p. 7) reveal that in sa 64.�% of ‘family’ physical and sexual assaults recorded by police were between ‘intimates’ being boyfriend/ girlfriend (including ex-) and partner/defacto/spouse (including ex-).

Persons involved in all family violence incidentsOver three years, nearly 2�,000 people were involved in family violence incidents attended by police. In all three years, the majority of offenders were identified as being adult males (average 79%) and the majority of victims were identified as adult females (average 76%)

Over three years, criminal action was taken in an average of �8% of all family violence incidents, and

arrest accounted for 87.5% of all incidents in which criminal action was taken over these years.

children were present or involved at 38% of FV incidents in 200�–02, at 42% of FV incidents in 2002–03, and at 44% of FV incidents (n=�23�).66

For the purposes of the acTP FV Database, three descriptors have been devised for the persons present at the scene: ‘offender’, ‘victim’ and ‘participant’.

66 Not all children who were present or involved in family violence incidents were recorded systematically in terms of age, gender, etc. Therefore the available data is likely to under-represent children present during family violence incidents.

Total number of persons identified

Total number identified as

offender

Total number identified as

victim

Total number identified as participant

200�–02 806� 2529 (3�.4%) 2905 (36%) 2627 (32.6%)

2002–03 6887 �986 (28.8%) 2224 (32.3%) 2677 (38.9%)

2003–04 589� �748 (30%) �962 (33%) 2�8� (37%)

Source: ACT Policing

Total FV incidents where relationship

recorded

Total spouse/

ex-spouse

% of total

other FV

% of total

200�–02 2878 �6�9 56.2% �259 43.7%

2002–03 2354 �370 58.�% 984 4�.8%

2003–04 �996 �05� 52.7% 945 47.3%

Source: ACT Policing

Table A1: Incidents attended where relationship category was recorded

Table A2: Roles of people involved in all family violence incidents attended

ReseaRch PaPeR 4

��

APPEndIx d: SELECTEd rAW dATA on SPoUSE/Ex-SPoUSE

InCIdEnTS

Table A3: Number of persons involved who were identified as offender, victim or participant

200�–02 2002–0� 200�–04

Offender �594 �249 �026

Victim �763 �338 �096

Participant �78 275 47

Total ���� 28�2 2��9

Source: ACT Policing

Table A4: Number of people who reported incident

200�–02 2002–0� 200�–04

Victim ��47 939 758

Offender 59 2� 36

Participant 43 70 �8

child 30 30 �5

Parent 24 44 25

Neighbour �39 96 78

Fire brigade 35 2 0

aFP internal 0 5 5

ambulance 0 �2 5

Family services 0 5 5

Other �38 �46 �06

Total ���� ��70 �0��� missing

Source: ACT Policing

Table A5: Children’s involvement (numbers and percentages)

200�–02 2002–0� 200�–04

number % number % number %

Present 308 4�.8% 484 72.2% 389 72.8%

Witness �22 �6.6% 67 �0.0% 66 �2.4%

sought help 43 5.8% �6 2.4% �6 3.0%

actively involved �54 20.9% �4 2.�% 4 0.7%

actively intervened �8 2.4% � 0.�% 7 �.3%

Offender �� �.5% �0 �.5% 5 0.9%

Victim 74 �0.�% 73 �0.9% 46 8.6%

Participant 6 0.8% 5 0.7% � 0.2%

Total 7�� �00.0% �70 �00.0% ��4 �00.0%

Source: ACT Policing

www.adfvc.unsw

.edu.au

ReseaRch PaPeR 4

�7

Table A6: Confirmed incident type

200�–02 2002–0� 200�–04

assault 270 289 �98

Breach DVO 2�7 �60 �2�

check premises �78 �37 �00

criminal damage 26 36 43

Disturbance 600 w477 382

Nuisance 57 45 44

Psychiatric 20 �2 ��

Routine 70 46 35

sexual assault �0 �4 5

suspicious 2� �9 8

Other �46 �3� �03

Total ���� ���� �0�0� missing 4 missing � missing

Source: ACT Policing

Table A7: Outcome of incidents (number and percentage)

200�–02 2002–0� 200�–04

number % number % number %

No offence disclosed 888 55% 527 38.47% 337 32.06%

Insufficient evidence 80 5% 334 24.38% 326 3�.02%

criminal action taken 462 29% 424 30.95% 3�0 29.5%

Other �72 ��% 85 6.2% 78 7.42%

Total ��02 �00% ��70 �00% �0�� �00%

�4 incidents missing data

Source: ACT Policing

ReseaRch PaPeR 4

�8

Table A8: Criminal charges laid by type of charge in all spouse/ex-spouse incidents (number and percentage)

200�–02 2002–0� 200�–04number % number % number %

common assault 332 33.67% 335 37.8�% 2�2 33.6%

aBh 84 8.52% 79 8.92% 37 5.86%

GBh 5 0.5�% 0 0% 3 0.48%

Breach 230 23.33% ��7 �3.2�% 79 �2.52%

stalking 23 2.33% 3 0.34% 4 0.63%

Threat to kill/inflict GBh �8 �.83% 36 4.06% 23 3.64%

sexual offences 22 2.23% 6 0.68% 3 0.47%

Driving offences 29 2.94% 37 4.�8% 30 4.75%

Weapon offences 24 2.43% 22 2.48% �6 2.54%

Property offences ��6 ��.76% ��0 �2.42% 94 �4.9%

Theft/burglary �7 �.72% 4 0.45% �4 2.22%

acts endangering life �4 �.42% 26 2.93% �� �.74%

Resisting police 26 2.64% �5 �.69% 23 3.66%

Unlawful confinement 46 4.67% �2 �.35% �� �.74%

Other 0 0% 84 9.48% 7� ��.25%

Total 98� �00% 88� �00% ��� �00%

Source: ACT Policing

Table A9: Types of criminal action taken

200�–02 2002–0� 200�–04number % number % number %

arrest 329 69.�2% 390 76% 307 82.75%

summons 26 5.46% 26 5% 22 5.93%

VaTac 3 0.63% 0 0% � 0.27%

caution 35 7.35% 30 6% �4 3.77%

FIWT 46 9.67% �5 3% 2 0.54%

Fresh charge 2� 4.4�% 43 8% 2� 5.66%

Other �6 3.36% 8 2% 4 �.08%

Total 47� �00% ��2 �00% �7� �00%

Source: ACT Policing

Table A10: Other formal actions taken (number and percentage)

200�–02 2002–0� 200�–04number % number % number %

Breach of peace 54 28.72% 26 20.�6% �0 �2%

ePO 25 �3.3% �7 �3.�8% 7 9%

Outstanding warrants 53 28.�9% 23 �7.83% �8 22%

Intoxication 25 �3.3% �2 9.3% �7 2�%

Other 3� �6.49% 5� 39.53% 29 36%

Total �88 �00% �29 �00% 8� �00%Source: ACT Policing

www.adfvc.unsw

.edu.au

ReseaRch PaPeR 4

�9

Table A11: Incident description where no offence disclosed (number and percentage)

200�–02 2002–0� 200�–04number % number % number %

Verbal only 265 30% 237 45% �30 39%

Verbal & physical 204 23% 24 5% �7 5%

Property damage 78 9% 2� 4% 24 7%

Refuse to leave �24 �4% 79 �5% 72 2�%

custody/access 55 6% 37 7% 9 3%

Phone/letter/email �02 ��% 53 �0% 40 �2%

Other 60 7% 76 �4% 45 �3%

Total 888 �00% �27 �00% ��7 �00%

Source: ACT Policing

Table A12: Confirmed incident type where no offence disclosed (number and percentage)

200�–02 2002–0� 200�–04

number % number % number %assault 3� 3.49% 5 0.95% 3 0.89%

Breach 69 7.78% 3� 5.89% 7 2.08%

check premises �5� �7.02% �00 �9.0�% 52 �5.43%

criminal damage 2 0.23% � 0.�9% 2 0.59%

Disturbance 399 44.98% 255 48.48% �77 52.52%

Nuisance 46 5.�9% 24 4.56% 26 7.72%

Psychiatric �0 �.�3% 7 �.33% 4 �.�9%

Routine 64 7.22% 35 6.66% 20 5.93%

sexual assault � 0.��% � 0.�9% 0 0%

suspicious �� �.24% 7 �.33% 3 0.89%

Other �03 ��.6�% 60 ��.4�% 43 �2.76%

Total 887 �00% �2� �00% ��7 �00%� incident

missing data� incident

missing data

Source: ACT Policing

Table A13: Incident description where criminal action taken (number and percentage)

200�–02 2002–0� 200�–04

number % number % number %

Verbal only 88 �9.05% 23 5% �6 5%

Verbal & physical 239 5�.73% 290 68% 202 65%

Property damage 50 �0.82% 42 �0% 42 �4%

Refuse to leave �6 3.46% �� 3% 4 �%

custody/access 7 �.52% 0 0% 0 0%

Phone/letter/email 3� 6.7�% 34 8% 28 9%

Other 3� 6.7�% 24 6% �8 6%

Total 4�2 �00% 424 �00% ��0 �00%

Source: ACT Policing

40

Table A14: Confirmed incident type where criminal action taken (number and percentage)

200�–02 2002–0� 200�–04

number % number % number %

assault �89 4�% 228 54% �43 46.28%

Breach ��8 26% 67 �6% 53 �7.�5%

check premises �� 2% 7 2% 6 �.94%

criminal damage �3 3% �4 3% 22 7.�3%

Disturbance 98 2�% 88 2�% 74 23.95%

Nuisance 4 �% � 0% 2 0.65%

Psychiatric 0 0% 0 0% � 0.32%

Routine 2 0% 0 0% 0 0%

sexual assault 6 �% 6 �% � 0.32%

suspicious 7 2% 0 0% � 0.32%

Other �4 3% �2 3% 6 �.94%

Total 4�2 �00% 42� �00% �09 �00%� missing � missing

Source: ACT Policing

ReseaRch PaPeR 4

Publication information

ISSN: 1443-8496

© 2007 australian Domestic & Family Violence clearinghouse

UNsW NsW 2052 Ph: (02) 9385 2990 Fax: (02) 9385 2993 TTY: (02) 9385 2995 Freecall: �800 753 382

email: clearinghouse@unsw.edu.au Website: www.adfvc.unsw.edu.au

This is a refereed publication. The views expressed in this Research Paper do not necessarily represent the views of the australian Government or the australian Domestic & Family Violence clearinghouse. While all reasonable care has been taken in the preparation of this publication, no liability is assumed for any errors or omissions.

The australian Domestic & Family Violence clearinghouse is funded by the australian Government Department of Family and community services and Indigenous affairs, through the Women’s safety agenda. The clearinghouse is linked to the centre for Gender-Related Violence studies, based at the University of New south Wales school of social sciences and International studies.