‘Hit and miss’ DV training puts victims and cops at risk

The police union president wants an urgent overhaul of domestic violence training for Queensland Police as an inquest into the deaths of Hannah Clarke and her children heard evidence cops failed to identify warning signs of her killer’s intentions.

Police union president Ian Leavers has called for an urgent overhaul of domestic violence training for Queensland Police, revealing education within the service is severely lacking, placing officers and victims at significant risk.

It comes as a coronial inquest into the deaths of Hannah Clarke and her three children heard evidence officers who dealt with killer Rowan Baxter missed opportunities to crack down on his behaviour and failed to identify warning signs.

Mr Leavers on Tuesday told the Brisbane Coroners Court that on average 40 per cent of QPS work was taken up by domestic violence but said there was insufficient training to prepare officers to adequately respond to the “complex” issue.

“What was abundantly clear is that a lot of our police who respond to domestic and family violence are the most junior within our workforce across the state of Queensland and that we cannot underestimate the importance of training, especially for junior officers,” he said.

“For our junior police, especially over the Covid times, the training has been limited and I believe they are put at a substantial risk, so while that puts police at substantial risk, it puts victims at substantial risk as well.

“When I suggest that 40 per cent of our function in policing is domestic violence, training in that area cannot be something which is put to the side.”

Police union president Ian Leavers leaves Brisbane Magistrates court after giving evidence at the Hannah Clarke inquest. Picture: Brad Fleet

Mr Leavers agreed that domestic violence training throughout the QPS, not just for junior officers, was “pretty ad hoc” and “hit and miss”.

He said the use of online learning modules “simply doesn’t cut it” and they do not go far enough to reflect the “complex” and “ever changing” legislation.

“We actually need face-to-face scenario based training for our police,” he said.

“Police who are at the forefront on the front line, I will say have been let down through the lack of training.”

He said the training issue needed to be addressed immediately, not months or years down the track.

Mr Leavers agreed that while police domestic violence liaison officers were held up as “specialists” within the service, often they were not and had no more training in that field than their colleagues.

Hannah was driving her three children, Aaliyah, 6, Laianah, 4, and Trey, 3, to school on the morning of February 19, 2020, when she was ambushed by her estranged husband Baxter who jumped in the car, doused them in petrol and set them on fire.

Senior Constable Justin Kersey told the inquest he went to see Baxter months earlier, on the morning of December 29, to issue him with a police protection notice that included an order for him to surrender his middle daughter Laianah.

Hannah Clarke with her children Trey, Laianah and Aaliyah.

The inquest previously heard Baxter abducted his four-year-old daughter on Boxing Day from a park in Bulimba.

Six weeks later, after hearing from a colleague that Baxter had breached the order by assaulting Hannah, Senior Constable Kersey spotted him at Carindale shopping centre.

He told the court he was aware Baxter was wanted for questioning in relation to the incident where he’d arrived at the Clarke family home with intimate photographs of Hannah spread across the back seat of his car.

He agreed he did not read all the material in relation to the incident, did not read Hannah’s affidavits and did not know she had been to a doctor and had photographs of her injuries.

After telling Baxter he would need to be processed through the watchhouse, Senior Constable Kersey then told Baxter he would release him with a notice to appear.

“Yes, there were risks, but again with the human rights act coming in earlier that year, we made a decision that, under the circumstances, with his zero criminal history, and again there was already no contact conditions under the domestic violence order (we) made the decision to issue a notice to appear that day,” he said.

A police bodycam image of Rowan Baxter.

Senior Constable Kersey said after Baxter left, he realised there was an additional charge of assault occasioning bodily harm that had not been included on the notice to appear. He then completed a new notice, but instead charged Baxter with the lesser offence of common assault.

When asked why he did that, despite there being medical evidence and images of Hannah’s injuries, he said he was unaware of that information and did not think to ask Hannah if there was such evidence. “I did not believe I could prove beyond reasonable doubt that assault occasioning bodily harm had occurred,” he said.

Senior Constable Stephanie Thomas works within the QPS Vulnerable Persons Unit and said more training would be beneficial for officers in that unit.

“The training could definitely be improved because we are considered to be specialist officers,” she said.