Police News May 09.indd - New Zealand Police Association

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceAssociation welcomes proposeddomestic violence legislationBy Deb Stringer, Communications AssistantThe New Zealand Police Association haswelcomed the introduction of the DomesticViolence (Enhancing Safety) Bill 2008.The Bill amends the Domestic Violence Act1995.The Association is keen to see somestrengthening of the Bill and recently madesubmissions to that effect to the Justice andElectoral Committee.The major change to the Bill, from a policingperspective, is the proposed introduction of‘police orders’.Removal of offenders‘Police orders’ are designed to give policeofficers the power to remove the allegedoffender from the environment of thedomestic violence for up to five days. Policewill not need the consent of the victim toissue such an order.The Association voiced concerns that theBill did not have a penalty for breaching anorder. The Association was concerned thatthe legislation in its current form simplyprovides that a person who breaches theorder may be arrested, taken into custody,and brought before the District Court; whichmay then reinstate the breached police orderor impose a temporary protection order.The Association felt this provided littledisincentive against breaching a policeorder: at worst, the respondent might spenda weekend in Police cells before having theorder reconfirmed by the Court. Providingsome additional sanction for breach of apolice order, such as a fine, would providea stronger incentive for compliance, theAssociation submitted.Enhancing measuresAlthough the Association views ‘policeorders’ in a positive light, it also believessome additional steps could make thepowers more effective.The Association told the committee that inits current form, the Bill’s wording lackedclarity about police powers in relation toserving an order on an offender who hadalready left the address by the time policearrived and this needed some attention.The Association was also hoping theGovernment would address issues aroundthe length of time the order remained validbefore it was served.Single order wantedThe Association also wants to see theinclusion of a clause which would allow asingle ‘police order’ to protect any numberof people who may be viewed as at risk froman alleged offender.The Association is hopeful it’s contributionsto the submission process will make apositive difference to the outcome of the Bill,especially since the latest crime statisticshave shown once again that New Zealandhas a serious domestic violence problem.In 2007-08 domestic violence accountedfor approximately 39% of homicides, 42%of kidnappings and abductions, 44% ofgrievous assaults, and 64% of seriousassaults. There was a 12.4% rise in familyviolence figures last year.Thirty seven percent (37%) of all incidentsattended by Police are related to domesticviolence incidents.Need for more officer safety training highlightedOfficers want more staff safety training,according to the findings of the PoliceAssociation Members’ Survey conductedlast year.Thirty five percent of officers indicated theyfavoured more training while 42% weresatisfied with the current levels. The restwere neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.While there was some dissatisfaction withthe quantity of defensive tactics trainingbeing delivered, 60% of survey participantssaid they were happy with the quality of thistraining when they received it. Nineteenpercent indicated dissatisfaction while theremaining 21% fell into the “neither satisfiednor dissatisfied” category.The two main groups who believed theywould benefit from more officer safetytraining were staff in Central District(51%) and GDB frontline staff (40%).The result in 2008 indicates a 10%increase in officer concern about the needfor more officer safety training (up from25% in 2005 to 35% in 2008).Satisfaction with officer safety trainingWhile members are relatively satisfied with the quality of officer safety training available, there issome dissatisfaction with the amount of safety training available.How satisfied are you with the following?The quality of officer safety trainingavailable to you (n=4185)514214515The amount of officer safetytraining available to you (n=4186)102523357%Very dissatisfiedDissatisfiedNeither dissatisfied/nor satisfiedSatisfiedVery SatisfiedBase: All constables excluding those not sure86May 2009