NCJ Number
139592
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 59 Issue: 11 Dated: (November 1992) Pages: 23-26,28-29
Date Published
1992
Length
6 pages
Annotation
In recent years, major changes have occurred in the training of the police in Queensland, Australia in the handling of domestic assault.
Abstract
For many years, police regarded domestic disputes as essentially private matters into which they were reluctantly drawn. Their approach was therefore to avoid police action in general, mediate if possible, and separate the perpetrator and victim if necessary. The failure of this approach to protect lives led to the change to the new paradigm, which regards domestic assault as violent and potentially criminal behavior for which police have a morally legitimate and legally enforceable mandate to intervene. This change of attitudes and behaviors resulted from the Domestic Violence (Family Protection) Act of 1989. The 2-day police training now uses a team-teaching format combined with a conceptual model of the five stages of conducting an investigation of an incident of domestic assault. Data regarding protection orders following the enactment of the law suggest that the new paradigm is influencing police practices, although detailed research has not yet been conducted. For this paradigm to prevail, leaders must actively support it and avoid returning to the former approaches. 14 references