‘Bread and butter’ policing: first-year constables and domestic violence

ABSTRACT

Domestic violence is an extensive social issue in Australia. It is a complex crime encompassing different behaviours and situations, which challenge police in terms of recognition and response, as well as determining appropriate outcomes of justice. During their first year of police work (whilst being evaluated under competency measures), first-year constables in Australia are frequently deployed to respond to public calls for help. As such, they are regularly sent to investigate domestic violence. Yet knowledge regarding the effectiveness of first-year constables in their response to domestic violence and policing of these crimes is lacking in much of the policing literature. This article focuses on policing of domestic violence from the perspective of first-year constables working in one of the largest Australian state police organisations (de-identified as part of the ethics agreement). It examines the findings from 46 interviews and offers insight into a hitherto under-researched area regarding policing of domestic violence by officers at the start of their policing career.

KEYWORDS:

• Domestic violence
• policing
• police
• response
• recognition

Introduction

Whilst it is acknowledged that different terms are used to identify domestic violence (hereinafter DV), in Australia DV is commonly used to refer to violence which occurs within a household and can occur between any two people living in the dwelling (such as between parents and children, siblings and even roommates). In Australia, most police organisations use the term DV in organisational procedural guidelines and training, and the terminology is prescribed in federal and state legislation used by officers during investigation. The World Health Organisation estimates that one in three women worldwide have been subject to DV and calls to police organisations regarding incidents of DV have increased globally (World Health Organisation, 2021).

DV policing takes up a significant proportion of workload, and Australian police spend most of their working week responding to incidents of DV than other types of crime (Crawford, 2022, p. 8). Yet in Australia, there is currently no nationally consistent legislative definition of DV (Wallace, 2021). Whilst DV is recognised in Australian federal legislation under the Family Law Legislation Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Act (2011), DV cases are dealt with under Australian state and territory laws. These have established mechanisms utilised by police to use to punish and deter offenders and would-be offenders and protect and assist persons against whom DV is perpetrated or threatened, but regardless of these mechanisms, DV is a pervasive social problem in Australia (Meyer & Reeves, 2021).

Research determines that there has been a continuing increase in the number of reported incidents of DV since 2016 but exact figures of DV incidents across Australia are unknown (Crawford, 2021; Crime Statistics Agency, 2019; Voce & Boxall, 2018). This is because DV is a significantly under-reported crime and police statistics do not represent all known incidents of DV (Voce & Boxall, 2018). It is estimated, however, that in Australia police respond to more than 260,000 DV incidents annually or the equivalent of more than 700 incidents of DV per day (Blumer, 2016). In 2019, the Crime Statistics Agency estimated that between 2018 and 2019, approximately 82,652 DV incidents were recorded in Victoria, and in 2020, 142,627 DV incidents were recorded in New South Wales; but this figure is likely to be inaccurate because research suggests that only one in five victims of DV report the crime to police (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016). Research also suggests that members of diverse groups are also less likely to report DV to police than members of majority groups. For example, Indigenous Australians being less likely than non-Indigenous Australians to report DV (Fiolet et al., 2021), and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ) people being less likely to report DV than heterosexual or cisgender people, with only one in 10 LGBTIQ people reporting DV to the police (Hill et al., 2020).

DV, is a complex crime, the nuances of which include emotional and psychological abuse, intimidation, harassment, stalking, physical and sexual assault (Crawford, 2022). Policing of DV is therefore fraught with an array of issues regarding the different challenges police face when responding to this crime. This includes placing police officers in situations where they are expected to recognise who the victim and perpetrators are in DV situations and provide safety for the victim (thereby not placing them at further risk of DV), whilst enacting and enforcing state legislation (Carrillo et al., 2021). Police officers are also meant to provide adequate support services to victims of DV as well as keep other people involved in the incident (such as family members or children) safe (Carrillo et al., 2021). If police fail to appropriately recognise and respond to DV, then it is likely that victims of DV will be at further risk of harm.

Police must also collect appropriate and accurate evidence at the scene (or after) the incident of DV, whilst treating the victim in a manner which reflects the seriousness of the crime and the victimization experienced (Carrillo et al., 2021; Seymour, 2019). For example, police officers are expected to identify DV incident characteristics such as the severity of the violence, signs of visible injury, whether a weapon was used, determine the presence of witnesses, issue protection orders (a legal order supplied by police or by an Australian court to protect victims from further violence and abuse), as well as determining whether to lay charges and arrest the perpetrator, and how to effectively protect the victim and others involved in the incident (Dowling et al., 2018). Police officers are also expected to implement outcomes of justice following the initial investigation of a DV incident such as determining whether to place DV offenders before a court (Dowling et al., 2018). Failure to face these challenges will result in miscarriages of justice for the victim (Dowling et al., 2018).

Responding to DV is not the only task police face when dealing with DV. In Australia, police officers are also expected to be proactive in preventing DV and to work with local service providers to reduce incidents of DV (Douglas, 2019; Dowling et al., 2018). Police response to DV in Australia, therefore, is like police response to DV worldwide, because it has an impact on the likelihood of further violence, victim well-being, and criminal justice outcomes (Natarajan, 2016). Like police agencies across the globe, Australian police organisations recognise the need to provide appropriate policing responses (Natarajan, 2016), and since 2014, policing of DV underwent significant changes.

In 2014, former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull declared DV a ‘national emergency’, and police investigation of DV became the central component to a wave of new initiatives that were deemed more appropriate as ways for police to recognise and respond to this crime (Douglas, 2019). For example, the Australian Federal Government (as well as State Governments) enacted significant legislature change, as well as policy innovation, which increased support and preventative measures for DV response (Segrave et al., 2018). Across Australia, practice guidelines for policing of DV were revised by many police organisations and were supported (or critiqued) by policy makers, advocates, academics, researchers and DV support groups (Dowling et al., 2018). Many police organisations prioritised policing responses to DV within their strategic plans or operational guidelines for future practice, and targeted DV responses (such as risk monitoring of communities and capability planning for effective response) became key components of these initiatives (Dowling et al., 2018).

Following the 2014 legislature and policy reforms, Australian police organisations identified significant inadequacies in their policing response to DV. Many police organisations recommended substantial changes to policing practices and policies regarding DV policing (Segrave et al., 2018). The changes included reformations in recruit training and in-service professional development programs (Segrave et al., 2018). Regardless of these changes, research examining the effectiveness of police response to DV, and policing of DV from the perspective of the general duties officers frequently tasked to respond to this crime (such as first-year constables) is lacking in much of the policing literature.

Upon completion of initial recruit training and on graduation from the police academy, a first-year constable (in their first year of deployment) is ranked at the lowest level within an Australian police organisation and is expected to engage in general-duties policing. During their first year, and as part of the organisation’s competency measures, first-year constables are constantly assessed on the quality of their work and are frequently deployed to respond to most public calls for help. This is important because in Australia, police recruits only spend on average nine-month training as police officers in police academies. Whilst part of the training includes small periods of placement in police stations, the lack of time spent on placement does not adequately prepare recruits for the reality of police work, and much of their experience is gained whilst working at a station (Miles-Johnson, 2019).

Although first-year constables are considered fully operational and deemed competent as general-duties police officers, the frequent deployment of first-year constables enables them to gain experience and knowledge in police work which extends beyond initial recruit training offered at the academy. First-year constables are, therefore, often the responding officers sent to investigate and respond to incidents of crime and victimisation (such as DV). As such, this article focuses on policing response to DV from the perspective of first-year constables working in general-duties policing within one of the largest Australian state police organisations (deidentified as part of the ethics agreement). Its aim is to better understand operational responses to policing of DV. It offers insight into a hitherto under-researched area regarding the effectiveness of police response to DV, and policing of DV from the perspective of officers at the start of their career.

Literature review

DV policing has been a priority for most Australian police organisations. It has become an important agenda item for the Australian Federal and Australian State governments in recent years, with police organisations investing heavily in response initiatives which can support victims of DV and reduce repeat offending (Dowling et al., 2018). Most Australian police organisations recognise the need for targeted responses to DV and developed policies, operational procedures or initiatives specifically focused on responding to DV crimes (Douglas, 2019). For example, in 2021, the Queensland Police Service commenced the ‘Domestic, Family Violence and Vulnerable Persons Command’ regarding the prevention, disruption, investigation and response to DV. In 2020, the New South Wales Police reviewed its ‘Domestic and Family Violence Policy’ and created the ‘Domestic Violence Death Review Team’ (DVDRT) to examine DV-related deaths and to report back to the Australian Federal Parliament and State Parliament with recommendations for change.

Yet Hickey (2021), an Australian criminal defence lawyer, suggests that whilst some police initiatives (such as those implemented by New South Wales police) may have contributed vital information to organisations and governments regarding the prevalence of DV crime, they have done little to reduce the number of complaints from citizens reporting incidents of DV to police. Nor have they reduced the frequency of citizens complaining that they receive ‘inadequate’ responses from police regarding help with DV or that incidents of DV are not recorded correctly by responding officers (or not at all; Hickey, 2021). Furthermore, critics argue that citizens consistently state that they do not receive a positive response from police officers during initial interaction regarding a DV incident (Seymour, 2019). It was also argued that many police officers give inaccurate advice regarding DV prosecution, and accordingly, many people said the failure to address their concerns regarding prosecution stopped them from reporting future episodes of DV to police (Hickey, 2021).

In the last decade, almost all Australian police organisations implemented a range of DV specific initiatives such as applying pro-arrest policies (although these have been criticised as being inflexible and likely to produce differing outcomes), enforcing use of protection orders and breaches, DV risk assessment practices, working with communities, and creating specialist DV response units and task forces. They have also appointed DV liaison officers, as well as implementing victim reporting initiatives and interagency collaborative programs to booster DV reporting (Hickey, 2021). In Australia, police are also under pressure to apply evidence-driven charges (sometimes referred to as ‘victimless prosecution’ charges) as opposed to victim-driven charges in DV cases (Dowling et al., 2018). Based on evidence, and a variety of techniques used by police to prosecute DV cases, evidence-driven charges arose from the challenges police face when working with DV victims who are unable or unwilling to cooperate with prosecution.

While pro-arrest policies have reinforced police responses to DV, research suggests that there is mixed support from police officers regarding the effectiveness of this approach (Dowling et al., 2018). Pro-arrest policies (while having a strong deterrent effect on some perpetrators, particularly those with a strong sense of social efficacy or desire to stay out of the criminal justice system) are also criticised for their inability to reduce repeat offenders of DV (Dowling et al., 2018). Despite these initiatives, it is argued that it is the role of the responding officer which underpins the subsequent processes and outcomes of justice regarding successful police response to DV crime and reduction of offenders (Diemer et al., 2017). For example, it is argued that the presence of the responding officer and the way they interact and investigate the incident are the key components to reducing the levels of DV and to improving victim satisfaction and overall policing response (Poynton et al., 2016; Seymour, 2019).

Previous large-scale reviews into policing of DV (such as the 2015 Special Taskforce on Domestic and Family Violence in Queensland and the 2016 Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence) also identified the need for improvements into the role (and effectiveness) of police as first-responders to DV crime. One key area identified by the reviews was the need for evidence-based policing regarding the experiences and practices of officers who respond to incidents of DV, to help inform (and reform) police practice (Douglas, 2019; KPMG, 2017). It was argued that police responses to DV may be affected by a lack of appropriate responses and that police use of evidence-based practices when investigating DV is likely to save the lives of those who had experienced DV (Douglas, 2019). Research also suggests that by itself evidence-based policing is not enough. It is more effective when police use evidence-based approaches in police investigation in conjunction with operational practices and guidelines, thereby weaving knowledge and experience together (J. Fleming & Rhodes, 2018). The reviews also identified that more empirical research was needed regarding the effectiveness of responses from police officers by police officers, so that an evidence base of knowledge regarding policing of DV could inform decision-making and operational guidelines, as well as effective police training to prepare officers for DV response (Douglas, 2019; KPMG, 2017).

Following the 2015 and 2016 reviews, evidence suggests that some Australian police organisations are better at training officers to respond to DV incidents than others (Carrillo et al., 2021). For example, in Australia, whilst many police organisations recognised the need for updated professional practice guidelines and improved evidence-based training, most police organisations focus much of their training curricula on policing practices considered important to police work, such as ‘Driver Response Training’, or ‘Firearms Training’. However, this means that officers spend less time on other important response training such as responding to persons with mental health (Miles-Johnson & Morgan, 2022) or DV response training (Meyer & Reeves, 2021). This is not to suggest that Australian police organisations are recalcitrant to improve or update their training programs. Some organisations, for example, Victoria Police, established specific DV training initiatives, such as the ‘Family Violence Centre of Learning’, aimed at improving police training of DV (Meyer & Reeves, 2021). The Queensland Police Service, following the recommendations outlined in the ‘Special Taskforce on Domestic and Family Violence’ (2015), report ‘Not Now, Not Ever’, also made improvements to their training program regarding increasing DV response training for police officers.

Yet the effectiveness of DV response from officers relies not only on the training offered but also on the willingness of responding officers to adhere to training guidelines and operational mandates and to understand that their response to DV needs to transcend their own personal viewpoints or cultural practices regarding DV (Gracia, 2014). Transcending personal viewpoints or cultural practices in policing, as well as overcoming police bias, is challenging for some police officers, particularly those whose background characteristics or occupational attitudes may shape their perception of police work, citizen engagement, and policing of different types of crime (Miles-Johnson, 2019). According to McPhedran et al. (2017) and Serrano-Montilla et al. (2021), police attitudes towards DV are likely to play an important role in the way police officers respond to DV, and many police organisations have implemented measures to help change police attitudes. If police response to DV is going to be successful, research also determines that the formal (not informal or discretionary) actions taken by police when they respond to DV incidents underpin outcomes of justice for the victims (as well as protective strategies) and reduce the likelihood of future violence (Diemer et al., 2017; Serrano-Montilla et al., 2021).

Whilst all police officers are expected to adhere to operational guidelines and mandated policing practices regarding DV responses, it is the mandate of police organisations that police officers must recognise and then respond appropriately to incidents of DV following outlined processes and protocols; thereby applying operational guidelines and legislation to recognise different typologies of DV and to determine the appropriate response (Meyer & Reeves, 2021). Yet previous research also argues that excessive officer discretion and poor interpretation of the incident of DV occurs frequently, and results in differential policing of DV and ineffectual policing response regarding these types of crimes (see, Grant & Rowe, 2011). Discretional policing within the wider context of police practice is problematic given that police officers conduct their activities with relative amounts of independence, and because the nature of police work means it frequently happens away from public view. It also occurs without the presence, influence, or control of superior officers (Miles-Johnson, 2019, p. 4; Porter & Prenzler, 2016).

Officer assessment of the DV incident, and officer recognition and response to risks associated with the DV situation, as well as their response to the perpetrator, and victim (to keep the victim safe and to hold the perpetrators to account), are also understood to be key elements which underpin outcomes of justice associated with policing of DV (Douglas, 2019). Whilst they are upheld by police organisations as the backbone to policing practice and DV response, it is the discretion of the responding officer that determines the outcomes of justice, and this is problematic when DV policing is differential or when policing practice does not follow official guidelines (Segrave et al., 2018). Police officers are trained to follow operational guidelines and mandated policing rules of practice regarding DV response; however, police build their knowledge base of professional practice on previous effectual or ineffectual policing responses applied in context, as well as the typologies of crimes and clients they interact with (Miles-Johnson, 2020). Not only is this problematic in terms of the dominance of the types of people that police engage with, but it is also problematic when officers are faced with typologies of DV which challenge police notions of normative instances of violence (Seymour, 2019).

This may be challenging when police respond to non-heterosexual relationships or when elements of non-physical violence are present such as coercive control (Seymour, 2019). Whilst coercive control is recognised as a criminal offence in England and Wales and in other European countries such as France, at present, coercive control is not criminalised under existing criminal codes across Australia. Like Canada and the United States, Australian police are unable to prosecute perpetrators of coercive control under existing Australian Federal or State DV legislation. In addition, Robinson et al. (2017) and Stark (2012) argue that many police officers are unable to recognise coercive control as DV, because it involves a course of behaviour rather than one specific and clearly injurious incident.

Yet no two incidents of DV are the same; it is vital, therefore, that police respond correctly and consistently and understand the specific responses and requirements DV victims need (Morgan et al., 2018). According to Birdsall et al. (2017), effective communication, as well as a spectrum of care and understanding during police response, should be provided to victims of DV, because homogenous investigative responses may not consider the different and unique factors contributing to each case. It is argued, however, that whilst officers need to offer more targeted, effective support to victims of DV (Birdsall et al., 2017), responding officers using discretionary policing practices are likely to be differential in their decision-making response to detecting DV and threats, as well as inconsistent in their ability to assess future risk of DV harm (Diemer et al., 2017; Dowling et al., 2018; Segrave et al., 2018). Police discretion in this context and the inadequacy of police response to DV is an ongoing debate in much of the DV literature (see Barlow & Walklate, 2018; Blumer, 2016; Douglas, 2019; Segrave et al., 2018). Research examining police use of discretion in DV situations also identifies police overuse discretion when attending incidents of DV with repeat offenders (Myhill, 2017). They also overuse discretion when responding to work considered as ‘social work’ or work that is related to ‘relationship problems’ which does not require adherence to operational guidelines or policing practices. In addition, DV policing is viewed as a distraction from ‘real’ police work, which many officers do not consider to be part of the police mandate of ‘fighting crime’ (Myhill, 2017).

Much criticism has been levied at police for responding to DV crime based on masculine policing practices (Carrillo et al., 2021; Myhill, 2017). Police practice which utilises masculine behaviours such as strength, aggression and dominance are traditionally endorsed as ‘real’ police work, and consequently, DV response is seen as a ‘feminine’ policing practice; therefore, being less important or trivial in comparison to other types of crime (Carrillo et al., 2021; Myhill, 2017). Many Australian police organisations have recognised the need to diminish this negative association and are utilising interagency or multi-agency responses to partner police with other appropriate DV response agencies. For example, in Australia, the New South Wales Police (under the ‘Northern Region Domestic Violence Referral Project’) partnered with the ‘Women’s Domestic Violence Court Assistance Schemes’, different women’s refuges, and various family and community support services to increase more positive associations regarding policing response to DV, as well as to increase police response to DV crime (Breckenridge et al., 2016). In addition, many Australian police organisations have implemented the use of expedited referrals for victims of DV to support services, which are distributed once police are called to DV incidents (Breckenridge et al., 2016).

Despite these initiatives, research suggests that interagency response regarding DV crime is mostly implemented as a second responder program to increase reporting of DV by repeat victims (Dowling et al., 2018). Although other emergency service agencies (such as paramedics) are often involved in DV situations, in Australia, it is police officers who are the first (and typically only) responders to DV (Dowling et al., 2018). As such, they need to respond appropriately and effectively to provide operational response to this crime.

Method

Interviews with first-year constables

To conduct this research, a rigorous qualitative methodological approach was taken. Semi-structured interviews with 46 first-year constables were conducted to better understand operational responses to policing of DV. The police organization stipulated that the term DV and not intimate partner violence be used in this research because (like other Australian police organisations) the term DV is used in their procedural guidelines and training and is prescribed in legislation used by officers during investigation. In accordance with stipulations of the police organisation, no senior officers ranked above the constable level participated in the research and participation in the semi-structured interviews was entirely voluntary. Because the researcher has no professional affiliation with or is employed by the police organisation, first-year constables were recruited by the police organisation via an interview information sheet emailed on behalf of the researcher. As such, exact response rates could not be calculated, because it was unknown at the onset of data collection how many first-year constables had been contacted, and this information was not shared by the organisation.

Whilst there were no expectations regarding the final number of participants, it was anticipated that at least 50 first-year constables would participate in the research. All the participants were informed that participation in the research would be anonymous, and their responses were de-identified and information such as the officer’s race, ethnicity, or age were not collected, and although gender was recorded, it was not linked to specific participant responses because the police organisation was concerned reporting of specific demographic information and linking it to responses may identify first-year constables working in smaller areas across the state. Although this information was not included in the final study, it is acknowledged that each of these variables may have shaped their interview responses. Interviews were conducted across the Australian state within a 12-month period, and this included interviews with first-year constables working in the capital city and regional areas. The final sample comprised 24 male officers and 22 female officers. The interviews ranged between 35 and 45 minutes, and all interviews were recorded, and transcribed into word documents for analysis. NVivo 11 was used to facilitate data analysis. The research was approved by the university’s ‘Human Research Ethics Committee’ approval (approval number #1900000652).

Analysis of findings, and identification of key themes

A modified Grounded Theory analysis approach (Oktay, 2012) was applied to analyse the findings and to determine police response to DV. Concepts were formed from interpretations of the data using an analysis worksheet. Using Grounded Theory in this way enabled the researcher to apply an inductive approach, whereby theory was generated from the findings and the coding began as the interviews progressed. Once all the key concepts were identified (using an open coding method) and each theme was categorised (using a selective coding method), nine core themes emerged from the interviews. This included:

1. Domestic violence policing dominates police work and general-duties response.

2. First-year constables intensely dislike responding to domestic violence offences.

3. Domestic Violence policing is considered the ‘Bread and Butter’ of police work.

4. Whilst domestic violence can occur on any day of the week, first-year constables refer to Sunday as ‘DV Sunday’.

5. First-year constables believe domestic violence response training at the academy is inadequate and lack the confidence to make decisions relating to domestic violence offences.

6. First-year constables use their discretion and apply previous interpretations of DV incidences and ‘successful’ tactics to respond to DV, rather than recognising and responding to the nuances of each DV incident.

7. Many first-year constables expressed frustration regarding police engagement with female victims of domestic violence during DV policing, due to inequitable expectations of treatment from police or perceived outcomes of justice.

8. First-year constables associate domestic violence with low socio-economic status, low education levels, and with specific groups of people.

9. First-year constables are frustrated by the lack of time they can spend responding to domestic violence in public, and at the station.

Clear recurring themes were present in the data of the 46 participants, and the saturation of themes was reached. The analysis of the findings reached a point where no new information was discovered, and each of the themes was assessed in relation to policing response and DV. It was determined that this would articulate the meaningful discussion which follows the findings. In addition, the researcher was aware of their subjectivity as a citizen and how this may influence the interpretation of the findings. Careful consideration of interpreter bias and how this may shape the meaning and interpretation of the findings were also applied to the analysis and to all the findings considered for inclusion in this research. It was also acknowledged that whilst participation in the interviews was open to all first-year constables in the organisation, the research may have attracted participants with particular views regarding policing of DV. As such, the researcher recognised that the opinions of the first-year constables expressed in this research are not representative of all first-year constables or other ranked officers working in the organisation.

Findings

Domestic violence policing dominates police work and general-duties response

Across the Australian state, all the participants in this research complained that policing of DV dominates their workload in general duties policing. All the participants spoke about their frustration with the amount of time it takes for them to complete the paperwork or formal documentation associated with DV, as well as the arduous processes of recording each DV incident into the police database. For example, Constable 9, Constable 15, and Constable 21 said:

Yeah. Where I am stationed it’s almost 100%. Yeah, definitely, most jobs are DV, like, we can go to four DVs in one shift, most days of the week, so that’s like 20 or more incidents of DV a week on a 5-day roster, it’s too much. (Constable 9).

DV, it’s bloody DV, all the time in this job, every day, every week. It dominates everything we do. It takes us forever to bloody deal with all the paperwork and the stuff related to it. (Constable 15).

I feel like I just do DV all day and nothing else. I deal with it in person and then must deal with it again with all the paperwork we do and then it’s putting it into the database and our systems, it’s a long process, it’s terrible. (Constable 21).

As stated, DV policing takes up a significant proportion of police workload (Crawford, 2021). First-year constables in this research reported being overwhelmed by the number of responses they make to DV situations. The negative attitudes they expressed towards DV policing correspond with other studies which also found that officers have predominantly negative perceptions and attitudes towards DV (see, Segrave et al., 2018). Given the estimates of figures regarding the number of DV incidents police respond to annually in different states in Australia, it is unsurprising that the first-year constables are overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork and administrative duties associated with recording DV crimes.

First-year constables intensely dislike responding to domestic violence offences

Whilst all the participants spoke about their frustrations regarding the frequency of DV jobs which dominate their workload, they also openly expressed their dislike of DV response as a policing practice. All the participants acknowledged the hatred for DV response from their own perspective and from the perspective of other officers. They also spoke about the expectation that it is police as sole responders who are required to attend DV situations. For example, Constable 2, Constable 4, and Constable 5 said:

I’m just at the point where I’ve had enough, because just it’s just DV, DV after DV, after DV. And it’s just amazing. I don’t know how much more of doing this I can take, or how much more other officers can deal with it either, we’ve all had enough of it. (Constable 2).

No one wants to go to domestic violence jobs, no one, because there’s so much paperwork with them, and it’s just shit, it’s just terrible, we must deal with this stuff, no one else will and it’s always DV, but no one wants to go to those jobs, we’ll do anything else, but not them. no one wants to do them, but we must do them you know. (Constable 4).

We’re kind of stuck dealing with DV jobs. How do people not know how to deal with this shit in their personal lives, like domestic violence is very frustrating, because a lot of the time, it shouldn’t be an issue. Honestly, we hate going to them, we must do them, but we hate them. (Constable 5).

This finding is consistent with previous research which posits that police dislike responding to DV because it does not represent ‘real police work’ and that it embodies much that is perceived to be wrong with police work, as well as a decay in social fabric regarding public behaviour and violence (Segrave et al., 2018). In addition, research suggests that many officers display negative or relatively conservative attitudes towards DV because they consider DV a ‘private matter’ which should not involve police (Ashlock, 2019; Li et al., 2021). Yet DV is classified as a crime in Australia and accordingly, it is the responsibility of police to respond to public calls for help when DV is reported or suspected (Morgan et al., 2020).

Domestic violence policing is considered the ‘Bread and Butter’ of police work

Although the participants spoke negatively about the dominance of policing DV within their workload and their dislike of it as a policing practice, many of the participants also acknowledged that policing of DV is one of the main components of police work. Many of the participants admitted that DV response is considered a normative policing practice because it is one of the most requested calls for help that officers attend. It is also one of the most recorded crime types responded to by the police organisation. Using a colloquial idiom, and an expression that they explained is dominant in policing and police culture, the participants referred to DV policing as the ‘bread and butter’ of policing or a normative practice of police work which occurs every day. For example, Constable 7, Constable 30, and Constable 34 stated:

I think everyone knows that DV now is very prevalent, and it’s kind of a given, that you’ll attend DV on a week-to-week basis, it’s the core of what we do, bread and butter mate, bread, and butter. (Constable 7).

Domestic violence would be our biggest challenge, it’s at the heart of what we do, it’s the bread-and-butter stuff. (Constable 30).

DV, it’s our bread and butter, it’s 90% of our jobs but coppers get fed up with DV because it’s everywhere. (Constable 34).

Despite legislative and policing led interventions to reduce DV, single incidents of DV and repeat DV offending in Australia are reported to be increasing (Crawford, 2021; Crime Statistics Agency, 2019; Voce & Boxall, 2018). All suspected and reported incidents of DV must be investigated by police whether it be first-time or repeat offences, low level, or extreme offences, and all suspected and reported incidents of DV are subject to legal proceedings depending on investigation (Morgan et al., 2020). Research by Morgan et al. (2018) also suggests that repeat DV offences typically occur in the weeks and months following an initial offence, and this may contribute to the consistency of police response to this type of crime. These factors may contribute to this finding that policing DV is considered ‘Bread and Butter’ and one of the main components of police work.

Whilst domestic violence can occur any day of the week, first-year constables refer to Sunday as ‘DV Sunday’

When speaking about the prevalence of DV responses within their workload and the dominance of DV policing cases officers must process, almost all the first-year constables spoke about the prevalence of DV occurring at the weekend, particularly on a Sunday. Interestingly, first-year constables across the Australian state consistently referred to this shared experience and talked about the frequency of DV occurring on Sunday rather than other days of the week. Many of the first-year constables spoke about Sunday and referred to is as ‘DV Sunday’. The first-year constables said that referring to Sunday as ‘DV Sunday’ was a common police practice and a widely used expression in policing. They also spoke about the common acceptance of the use of this expression across the police organisation and that all police officers understood the negative association of these words when referring to shift work occurring at the weekend. They also explained that the use of the term acknowledged the likelihood that first-year constables working on this day would be frequently deployed to respond to incidents of DV. For example, Constable 6, Constable 26, and Constable 35 stated:

I was just talking to one of my colleagues who’s now at another station, and she says to me that yesterday was ‘DV Sunday’, and I said, ‘Is that a thing there as well?’ and she said, ‘Yes, here it is’, and I was like, ‘Well it is everywhere, right’. (Constable 6).

Sunday seems to be the main domestic violence day because people don’t know how to cope, with how they’re feeling. Like, they’re taking it out on their partner or someone close to them, and they don’t want to do it out in public, so they’re doing it at home, because no one else can see it, we call this ‘DV Sunday’ you know. (Constable 26).

You can’t escape domestic violence in this district, especially at the weekend, it always seems to be Sunday afternoon, they’re at home, drinking beer, watching the footy, and something goes wrong, the team loses, and then it’s on, and out we go, and once again, it’s bloody ‘DV Sunday’. (Constable 35).

First-year constables believe domestic violence response training at the academy is inadequate and lack confidence to make decisions relating to domestic violence offences

When talking about DV recognition and response, all the first-year constables expressed their frustration at not being trained adequately to recognise and respond to DV offences. Many first-year constables spoke about the lack of realistic training offered to them whilst undertaking initial police training at the police academy. They also spoke about the subsequent lack of confidence when making informed decisions regarding DV offences. For example, Constable 13, Constable 17, and Constable 43 said:

I suppose thinking about how prevalent it is, and the coverage we had whilst training at the academy on DV compared to other topics, DV really wasn’t covered in any more depth than anything else that we did at the Academy. I still don’t quite understand how much we do deal with DV daily, so yeah, we needed more training on it. (Constable 13).

There wasn’t a lot of focus on the realities of DV policing. Especially not in terms of doing a thorough investigation a lot of the time you have to kind of guess or work it out yourself. (Constable 17).

The academy sets you up for the best and worst situation. It doesn’t set you up for what happens day to day, when we do DV, dealing with humans, its chaos, it changes second by second, but we don’t learn that at the academy. (Constable 43).

First-year constables use their discretion and apply previous interpretations of DV incidences and ‘successful’ tactics to respond to DV, rather than recognising and responding to the nuances of each DV incident

Many of the first-year constables also talked about the lack of training in relation to how it reduces their ability to recall the expected operational responses required of them by the police organisation when policing DV crime. As such, many of the first-year constables talked about their reliance on their own discretion to interpret the DV situation. Many of the participants spoke about often comparing a current DV situation to another previous DV incident where the outcome was positive or where the policing tactics they applied, were successful. Almost all the first-year constables spoke about interpreting DV situations in the same way, rather than recognising and responding to the nuances of each DV incident. For example, Constable 37, Constable 38, and Constable 44 said:

Most of the time I think about what I did last time, did it work or didn’t it, and what to do next. Like, a lot of the time I think about whether this DV is the same as that DV, and to me it’s all the same really, so I apply what I did last time when it worked and go from there, we don’t have time for anything else. (Constable 37).

All we know is just your basic DV stuff, there’s a whole range of different things that we know nothing about, until we are faced with it, so we must decide there and then what to do, most of the time we think about what we did the last time it worked and do that again, you know, the same thing. (Constable 38).

You must use your discretion right. Should you be taking further action and arresting him or not letting him go. I think about what I did last time and what worked. (Constable 44).

If officers are going to appropriately respond to a DV situation, then they must be able to discern the differences in DV crimes as well as differences in behaviour of perpetrators and victims (Diemer et al., 2017). Whilst it is recognised that officers responding to DV situations must respond quickly, determine the situation, and investigate the matter at hand, if officers are unable to determine the differences between DV situations and contexts, then it is likely that the margin for error in terms of successful investigation and outcomes of justice is increased. The complex nature of DV response and investigation requires a balance between employing investigative tools deemed successful in the past and approaching each DV incident as unique (Diemer et al., 2017).

Many first-year constables expressed frustration regarding police engagement with female victims of domestic violence during DV policing, due to inequitable expectations of treatment from police or perceived outcomes of justice

Whilst speaking about DV response, many of the first-year constables only referred to DV policing in heterosexual relationships and contexts and spoke about their frustration with female victims of DV. This included first-year constables talking about their experiences of interaction with female victims of DV crime, and their experiences of engagement with females during the investigation of DV incidents, whereby specific behaviours performed by the females were viewed negatively or attitudes expressed by females during police interaction were viewed as manipulative or inappropriate. Some of the first-year constables spoke about male victims of DV crime being overlooked or purposefully ignored by other officers in the organisation. Some of the officers also spoke about female victims of DV purposefully trying to manipulate responding officers to side with them against an alleged perpetrator or to manipulate the DV situation to their advantage. For example, Constable 6, Constable 14, and Constable 26 said:

I’ve seen women try and manipulate us because they know that they’ll get their kids given to them or they think it’s going to benefit them with the court in some way, if you know what I mean, it just makes them look better, and it frustrates me. (Constable 6).

What frustrates me is that the females just assume that we’re always going to be on their side, which is not the case, you know, that’s one thing that frustrates me about DV. (Constable 14).

Females, they use it, they kind of try and blackmail us with their gender, and that’s what frustrates me, and I get DV is a huge issue for women, and we need to make sure that everyone’s safe, and we’re doing everything to protect everyone, but it does get frustrating when there’s women out there that just abuse it and just use it, and try it on with us because they’re women. (Constable 26).

This response from first-year constables regarding their perception of being manipulated by females in DV situations may suggest that at the start of their career first-year constables already have a degree of cynicism regarding DV policing. It may also suggest that first-year constables are engaged in victim-blaming behaviours, an area of research which posits that victim-blaming discourse, as well as negative police attitudes and practices invalidate and silence female victims of DV and other types of crime (Clark, 2021). Whilst this may explain the responses from the first-year constables, it is also important to note that DV incidents are complex and often emotionally charged events, whereby victims of DV may have been exposed to numerous traumatic events of violence resulting in psychological, physical, and emotional injuries. As such, they may not be able to communicate effectively or interact well with responding officers (Clark, 2021). There is also a wide body of research which posits that many victims of DV report not being taken seriously by police or not believed by police, as well as police not acting or responding appropriately in DV situations (Douglas, 2019).

First-year constables associate domestic violence with low socio-economic status, low education levels, and with specific groups of people

During the interviews, some first-year constables associated DV with certain groups of people. Whilst the first-year constables in this research are stationed in different areas across the Australian state, they discussed similar experiences regarding being called out to respond to DV incidents which frequently involve people from specific social groups. The participants also spoke about frequently policing DV incidents with people who possess distinct characteristics or who are identifiable as belonging to marginalised or vulnerable groups in society. For example, some of the first-year constables spoke about responding to DV incidents regularly (or recurrently) with people they perceived to be from low socio-economic backgrounds, with people they perceived to possess low levels of education, with people they identified as illegal drug users, or with people who they identified as being part of a minority group such as people from Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander communities. Whilst some first-year constables acknowledged that DV can occur in any community and can affect all people, these officers spoke about police response to incidents of DV frequently occurring with people who share similar characteristics or identifiers. For example, Constable 11, Constable 27, and Constable 41 said:

The sort of people we see with DV, they’re lower socio-economic kind of people with minimal education, these people are, lower socio economic, they’re education level, their level of intelligence, their emotional intelligence is shot to hell, and mostly they’re all drug affected. (Constable 11).

Mostly they’re poor and white, or uneducated, or black, we don’t tend to go to rich people’s homes for DV, it does happen but not as much as with other people. (Constable 27).

I see domestic violence a lot with the lower socio demographic, like low-income earners, low drug users as well, and then Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as well, those three groups have 99% of domestic violence. I think in the last four months, I’ve only been to one DV incident that doesn’t fit those criteria. (Constable 41).

Whilst previous research suggests that officer beliefs about certain types of crime (such as sexual assault and DV) are typically formed by myths and stereotypes regarding culture, race, gender, class, illegal drug and alcohol use, and typologies of crime (see J. C. Fleming & Franklin, 2021; Garza & Franklin, 2020; O’Neal, 2019), the association first-year constables expressed regarding socio-economic status, low education levels and race raises concerns about how these links may affect future police response, and engagement with citizens identified by or associated with these characteristics. This has serious implications for police response in terms of investigation, arrest, and outcomes of justice. This concern is supported by J. C. Fleming and Franklin (2021) who argue that when officers comparing typologies and frequencies of DV between groups in society, as well as comparing the characteristics of offenders and victims in DV situations and associating these in terms of frequency of involvement in DV crime, they are likely to make mistakes during investigation. They are also likely to overlook key indicators regarding DV perpetration and victimisation, and differentially police citizens while investigating DV crimes (J. C. Fleming & Franklin, 2021).

First-year constables are frustrated by the lack of time they can spend responding to domestic violence in public, and at the station

All the first-year constables spoke about the time constraints placed upon them whilst completing general-duties policing. Many of them talked about their frustrations regarding the little amount of time, they can spend responding to DV incidents in public or when responding to DV incidents at the station (such as taking statements from DV victims or from people reporting DV crime). Whilst the first-year constables are frustrated by the lack of time that they can spend responding to DV in public, and at the station, none of the first-year constables spoke about how this could be resolved easily and spoke about ‘lack of time’ being part of the job and a frequent occurrence in policing work. For example, Constable 5, Constable 9, and Constable 46 said:

We have no time to do a great job but just enough time to do a fairly good job, especially when there’s another four people in the line with the same problem, and who all want to speak to you and get help. (Constable 5).

You go into a domestic violence job, and you don’t know what you’re doing, and you’re being rushed to work it all out, and it’s a rush, a hurry, how can we work things out when we have no time because the next job is coming in and we need to go, and the Sergeant is in your ear telling you to get it done and get to the next one, yet we haven’t worked out or completed this one. (Constable 9).

It’s all so time consuming, and when this happens, we rush it through, we don’t really take it all in because we don’t have enough time, we write down the bare minimum, hoping that it’s enough and that we got it right, it’s all we can do when we have no time. (Constable 46).

In Australia, workforce resource allocations for police (in terms of job distribution) are usually managed at the local level by police call-centre staff and senior officers, who apportion jobs according to the availability of officers. Whilst these decisions may be tactically distributed rather than strategically distributed, research suggests that DV incidents take longer to process and respond to than other types of crime, and serious DV incidents may occupy the entire working shift (and resources) of responding officers (Crawford, 2022). Given the time constraints placed on first-year constables when investigating or dealing with incidents of DV (as well as their relative inexperience), it is vital that they effectively recognise different DV situations and respond to them appropriately. This will enable a professional response, as well as initiate outcomes of justice for victims.

Discussion

Whilst this research was conducted in Australia, the findings have policy and practice implications for policing of DV globally. There are, however, several limitations to this research. First, there are limits regarding the use of semi-structured interviews because these may not be comparable to data collected in real-life situations such as during participant observation. Second, whilst semi-structured interviews were conducted with first-year constables, interviews conducted with senior officers may offer additional insight into policing of DV. Third, the research was conducted with only one state police organisation in Australia, and as such, further research with other state police organisations across Australia could determine if these results are representative of first-year constables in different police organisations. Fourth, because the police organisation was concerned that demographic information could identify first-year constables working in smaller areas across the state, comparative analysis between first-year constable’s responses and specific identifiers (such as gender) was not possible, thereby limiting further analysis of the data. Despite these limitations, this research provides several important insights regarding first-year constables and policing of DV.

All police organisations have officers in the early stages of their policing career, and the issues identified in this research raise questions regarding the lack of preparedness of first-year constables and policing of DV and how police organisations can better prepare first-year constables to police DV. As stated, during their first year of employment, first-year constables in Australia are constantly assessed on the quality of their work, and as such, are typically deployed to respond to public calls for help as part of the fulfillment of policing competency measures. First-year constables are, therefore, usually the responding officers frequently sent to investigate public calls for help and respond to incidents of crime and victimisation (such as DV). Yet the results of this research show that the workload of first-year constables in Australia is dominated by DV policing, particularly at the weekend, and whilst they are required to respond and engage professionally with every incident of violence, they intensely dislike DV policing, and are frustrated by the lack of time they can spend responding to DV in public, and at the station.

The results also show that although DV policing is considered a normative policing response and an expected component or core part of police work, first-year constables are inadequately trained in DV policing. Subsequently, first-year constables lack the confidence to make decisions relating to DV offences, and frequently use their discretion to determine a DV situation or how to respond to the DV situation. When responding to incidents of DV, first-year constables usually apply previous interpretations of DV incidences or previous policing responses deemed successful when responding to DV incidents, rather than recognising the nuances of each DV incident (such as differences between emotional and psychological abuse, intimidation, harassment, stalking, physical and sexual assault) and then responding appropriately. This research also identified a new contribution to the extant literature regarding policing of DV because first-year constables are frustrated by the inequitable expectations of female victims of DV regarding perceived treatment by police or perceived outcomes of justice. First-year constables also associate incidents of DV with people from specific social groups, and with people who possess distinct characteristics, or affecting people who are identifiable as belonging to marginalised or vulnerable groups in society.

In Australia, police recruits entering the first-year constable phase of their career are expected to be able to recognise and respond to different types of crime. As stated, being first-year constables, they are required to fulfill competency measures regarding police performance and should therefore, possess an understanding of the nature of the work that they will encounter. Whilst first-year constables in this study reported that responding to incidents of DV is a normative (and expected) police practice, the volume of DV response required of officers in a working week overwhelms many of the first-year constables, who report being shocked by the frequency of response to this crime type. Being underprepared for DV response and the frequency of this type of policing work is understandable given the short amount of time recruits spend training in DV response as well as the little time they spend on placement at police stations.

Whilst officer’s psychological, mental, and emotional preparedness to DV has been researched in some international contexts (see Prontenko et al., 2019) this type of research is lacking in the Australian policing literature. Preparedness of officers in relation to effective and professional response to differing crime types is argued to be most beneficial to officers when it occurs over a gradual and systematic time period (Prontenko et al., 2019). Yet police recruit training in Australia is typically no more than nine months, and DV response training is often restricted to one or two (sometimes even half a day) of the training curricula and very little time in placement situations. This is not uncommon, with many police organisations focusing primary training for police on operational guidelines, firearms, self-defence, use of force, driver-response training, legislation, and mental illness. Police training, however, is not standardised in Australia, and like police training in the United States, it varies by Australian state police organisation (Blumberg et al., 2019; Miles-Johnson & Morgan, 2022).

Given the frequency of DV policing that first-year constables undertake, it is clear that there needs to be less focus on aspects of police training and police skills that are not typically utilised during the working week (such as driver-response training, which is often held over a three to four-week training period) and more focus or emphasis in training recruits on the skills that are consistently utilised by all first-year constables across the state on a daily/weekly basis (such as DV recognition and response training). This would help prepare and equip first-year constables for the reality of policing work. There also needs to be a balance between academy training and field placement or station duty. Increasing the awareness of recruits regarding the reality of policing work and the frequency of police response to incidents of DV would also help increase the resilience of first-year constables in DV situations.

Being aware of the frequency of DV policing and gaining experience regarding the reality of police work from the onset of training and the start of field placement is likely to enhance the ability of first-year constables to recognise the nuances of DV crime. It will also improve their professional response to each incident of DV. Officers gaining experience in the workplace rather than in a classroom will also gain skills and knowledge regarding the differences in behaviour of perpetrators and victims (Diemer et al., 2017). Critics examining police training on DV argue that classroom training does not equip recruits with the necessary skills to deal with DV situations quickly and efficiently and does not train officers to confidently make decisions during investigation (Gezinski, 2022). Expecting first-year constables who are undertrained, and consequently lack confidence to make decisions relating to DV offences will certainly result in differential policing and poor outcomes of justice for victims of DV. It is argued that no two incidents of DV are the same (Seymour, 2019) yet responding officers who cannot determine differences in DV situations or who apply previous interpretations of DV incidences or previous policing responses deemed successful to deal with the situation are likely to miss the severity of the incident, as well as other factors during the investigative process. It is clear from the finding in this research however, that first-year constables across this Australian state are under-trained and are not mentally prepared for the realities of DV policing.

According to McCreary and Thompson (2006), mental preparedness of officers is the key component for successful policing response in most policing situations, and whilst many officers may be more resilient to adversity than the average citizen, witnessing incidents of DV on a daily or weekly basis may heighten operational policing stress while on duty. Officers must recognise situations and respond quickly and efficiently, yet the margin for error is increased when first-year constables apply differential policing techniques or responses based on compulsion and discretion or, whilst ignoring the nuances of a situation, rely on policing methods previously deemed effective. The complex nature of DV requires a balance between utilising previously successful policing response and approaching each DV incident as unique (Diemer et al., 2017). But time constraints (and increasing workload) place officers in a position whereby they must determine how best to police a DV situation, often leaving officers little time to establish distinctive or subtle aspects of the incident, forcing officers to apply reactive policing techniques rather than considering responses which may be more appropriate. It is unsurprising, therefore, that the first-year constables in this research expressed their frustration at having little time to respond to DV in public and at the station.

Segrave et al. (2018) argue that time-poor officers typically have profound levels of cynicism and a sense of futility when responding to DV incidents, and this may further reduce the quality of response first-year constables give to DV policing. To overcome the challenge of lack of time and policing of DV, Segrave et al. (2018) argue that there is a need for specialist DV response officers, whose policing duties are solely focused on DV crime. While there are obvious time and resource constraints and that this idea may place strain on police resources by pulling officers from general-duties policing into specialist roles, the idea is not without merit. Across the Australian state, first-year constables in this research consistently spoke of the dominance of DV policing within their weekly workload, particularly at the weekend (on Sunday) when the calls for police response to DV crime are typically at their peak. In 2006, the New South Wales Ombudsman outlined the need for specialist police officers and DV response. Yet in 2022, the auditor-general of New South Wales argued that there is still a lack of specialist policing units or areas of policing command which solely focus on DV and that there is little evidence to show that all Australian police organisations are appointing specialist DV officers (Crawford, 2022). For example, whilst Victoria Police and the Queensland Police Service have dedicated a number of DV officers working in established policing commands, New South Wales police were criticised for not allocating enough resources or specialist DV officers to advise responding officers across the state (Crawford, 2022). Subsequently, there is a paucity of Australian research which examines the effectiveness of DV policing from the perspective of such officers. This is also true of DV policing in other areas, such as in the United States, where there has been ongoing debate regarding the need for specialist DV police (Harrell et al., 2006; Hirschel & Faggiani, 2012), but evaluation of this type of policing is missing from the extant policing literature.

Previous research also posits that police officers are frustrated by DV policing because they perceive aspects of it to be (at times) unresolvable, and per se, police become cynical towards all parties involved in DV situations (see Diemer et al., 2017; Douglas, 2019; Dowling et al., 2018; Segrave et al., 2018). Yet the frustration and cynicism first-year constables expressed in this research regarding aspects of DV policing was linked to their experiences of inequitable expectations of female victims of DV and their perceived treatment by police or perceived outcomes of justice regarding DV. As stated, this finding may suggest that at the start of their career first-year constables already have a degree of cynicism regarding DV policing and may not take the reports by victims seriously (see Douglas, 2019) and may engage in victim-blaming behaviours (Clark, 2021). Victim-blaming research suggests that police officers in DV situations often blame poor outcomes of justice on the victim and the inability of the victim to communicate effectively about the incident of DV, as well as the victim’s reticence to pursue the matter legally (Clark, 2021; Retief & Green, 2015). This perspective places the onus of blame on the victim rather than the actions (or inaction) or mistakes of police (Clark, 2021; Retief & Green, 2015).

As stated, DV incidents are complex and often emotionally charged events, and many victims of DV may have been exposed to numerous traumatic events of violence resulting in psychological, physical, and emotional injuries, and as such may not be able to communicate effectively or interact well with responding officers (Clark, 2021). Whilst some members of the public may have unrealistic expectations regarding the ability of police officers to resolve matters in a way which has positive outcomes of justice for them (see Clark, 2021), in DV policing situations across the Australian state, first-year constables spoke cynically about inequitable expectations of justice or treatment being prevalent among females in many DV situations. Although this finding may not diminish the capability of first-year constables to respond appropriately or professionally to DV situations, it does raise further questions about the challenge this has on a first-year constable’s ability to objectively recognise the nuances of DV, the different behavioural characteristics of perpetrators and victims, and outcomes of justice and, again, highlights the importance of effective police training.

The cynical perception of DV policing expressed by first-year constables was also reflected in the association many of them made between incidents of DV and people from specific social groups, with people who possess distinct characteristics, or affecting people who are identifiable as belonging to marginalised or vulnerable groups in society. Whilst previous Australian research suggests that police spend more time investigating DV associated with serious crimes and vulnerable victims (Dowling et al., 2018) and police frequently apply risk assessment of DV in Indigenous communities (see, Bachman & Coker, 1995; Barrett et al., 2011), in the last decade reviews of DV policing have recommended reforms to practice which may have heightened the awareness of officers to DV in marginalised or vulnerable groups. Research by Cunneen (2010) and the State of Victoria (2016) however, determines that there is a lack of cultural competency regarding police and recognition and response to DV with certain groups, particularly with members of the Indigenous community. Research also posits that although socio-economic status has no impact on investigative decision-making (Bachman & Coker, 1995), police are more likely to thoroughly investigate DV incidents when it involves people in higher than lower socio-economic groups (Barrett et al., 2011; Dowling et al., 2018). Yet the Australian state where this research took place has mixed populations regarding levels of income (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016). According to the Australian census, seven geographical areas are classified as disadvantaged and four geographical areas are classified as advantaged in terms of socio-economic status, and first-year constables from each of those areas were included in the interviews.

A general measure of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage can be defined as people’s access to material and social resources, and their ability to participate in society, as well as geographical areas having high levels of housing rentals, low rental costs and low incomes (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016). It is important to note, however, that socio-economic status is assigned to geographical areas and not individuals, and a relatively advantaged person can reside in a low socio-economic area. Across the state, however, first-year constables associate DV policing with groups of people they identify as low socio-economic and not the geographical area itself. Although this association may be due to the frequency of police response to DV incidents with people perceived to be low socio-economic, there is evidence to suggest that higher levels of DV reporting (and consequently policing of DV) are associated with people with lower socio-economic status (Ackerman & Love, 2014; Barrett et al., 2011; Stavrou et al., 2016).

The association made by first-year constables also raises questions about the way police organisations approach DV policing in terms of police culture and group-centred approaches to policing. Although police culture was not openly discussed by the first-year constables in this research, it is certainly a factor which needs careful consideration when analysing the responses to policing of DV. Segrave et al. (2018) and Westmarland (2008) argue that policing of DV and DV response are entrenched in negative aspects of police culture, which links police hostility towards segments of the public and specific crime types such as DV. Given the reality of frequency of response to DV crime and the workplace acceptance that DV policing is a staple part of police work considered to be the ‘Bread and Butter’ or normative practice of policing, it is important to address the influence of police culture on police performance and how this may shape the expectations and then experiences of first-year constables as they respond to incidents of DV. Whilst this is an area that has been researched in some contexts (Grant & Rowe, 2011; O’Neill et al., 2008), it is an area of research that needs systematic enquiry in Australian policing.

Conclusion

DV response is an aspect of policing which first-year constables in Australia frequently respond to as part of general-duties policing. First-year constables in the Australian state where this research took place, however, are under-prepared to respond professionally to incidents of DV. Whilst policing of DV is the ‘Bread and Butter’ of police work, the lack of DV training first-year constables undertake in Australia is reflected in the inability of the officers in this research to distinguish nuances of DV situations (such as differences between emotional and psychological abuse, intimidation, harassment, stalking, physical and sexual assault) and underpins the negative association first-year constables have with DV policing and its associated factors. This research also identified a new finding regarding police awareness of DV policing that contributes new knowledge to the extant policing literature and DV. The first-year constable’s opinions regarding inequitable expectations of female victims of DV and perceived treatment they think they will receive from police or the favourable outcomes of justice they will receive from police during DV investigation are a surprising finding, particularly when previous research posits that officers tend to favour female victims of DV. The identification of negative associations regarding expectations of treatment and outcomes of justice by female victims of DV may shape police attitudes towards DV policing and outcomes of justice generally. For first-year constables to be effective responders to incidents of DV, this finding needs careful consideration in future studies examining police response to DV. Meticulous attention by police organisations to the lack of capability first-year constables possess (when recognising and responding and then investigating DV crime) will enhance the capability of police organisations to effectively train, manage and deploy police officers to respond to DV. It will also facilitate successful policing of these types of crime.

Ethics approval

Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Approved Human Research – Negligible – Low Risk #1900000652.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Toby Miles-Johnson

Associate Professor Toby Miles-Johnson has a national and international profile as a scholar specialising in online survey research and semi-structured interview research with different institutions and groups of people in national (Australian) and international settings. He specialises in research with police organisations, national security agencies, international defence agencies, and diverse groups of people, and people categorised as vulnerable or hard to reach. He researches how institutions, such as police and other national security agencies, should respond to and engage with diverse communities when experiencing victimisation or when professional engagement occurs.