Gold Coast Domestic and Family Violence Taskforce helping to make Queensland a safer place

SEVERAL public incidents of domestic violence last year left Queensland shocked, so what has happened since then to ensure the deaths and pain were not in vain?

THEIR horrific deaths late last year – two days apart – shook a city, a state and a nation.

Gold Coast women Tara Brown and Karina Lock died brutally and publicly in an awful 48 hours last September, both allegedly at the hands of their ex-partners.

But the two women left a lasting legacy.

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On the 2nd floor of Gold Coast police headquarters in Surfers Paradise, a new team of specialist officers is working hard to ensure Tara, Karina and all the other victims of domestic and family violence did not die in vain.

The officers are members of the Gold Coast Domestic and Family Violence Taskforce, launched earlier this year in a bid to combat the often secret scourge that has left a trail of dead, battered and traumatised women and children.

Codenamed Operation Oscar Falconry, it’s believed to be an Australian first, introduced by police bosses to tackle one of the Glitter Strip’s darkest problems, after the city was branded the state’s domestic violence capital.

That sorry reputation was reinforced last year with a spate of shocking and tragic DV-related deaths across the southeast, four of them on the Gold Coast.

They included Tara Brown, a 26-year-old mum who was allegedly chased down and beaten to death in the wreck of her car by her bikie boyfriend, Lionel Patea. The following day, mother-of-four Karina Lock was shot dead at a northern Gold Coast McDonald’s restaurant by her estranged husband Stephen. He then turned the gun on himself as horrified diners and staff looked on.

Their deaths followed the alleged axe murder of pregnant 34-year-old Fabiana Palhares at her Varsity Lakes home in February. And then, in November, in another suspected DV-related murder-suicide, stonemason David Lee killed his partner Melinda Horner at their Burleigh home before taking his own life.

Gold Coast Domestic and Family Violence Taskforce of Inspector Mark Hogan, Bronwyn Beach, Michelle Adam and Annette Fulton. Picture: Adam Head

“Queensland got the biggest wake-up of its life,’’ domestic violence crisis service DV Connect CEO Di Mangan said in the wake of the Brown/Lock deaths.

“These were two women who were killed in public. I think, historically, domestic violence was behind closed doors. There was an element of shame about it. Queensland is a very violent place.”

Gold Coast police, backed by Deputy Commissioner Brett Pointing who has new responsibility for domestic violence, decided that enough was enough. A new approach was needed.

Whereas domestic violence policing is largely carried out by uniformed officers, the new taskforce includes a team of experienced detectives who actively investigate incidents and potential safety threats with the aim of getting women and children out of harm’s way, and making offenders “accountable”.

Tara Brown.

The 12-member squad is headed by Detective Inspector Marc Hogan, a former special services soldier and 25-year Queensland Police Service veteran.

An ambassador for White Ribbon – the organisation which campaigns to stop male violence against women – Hogan says last year’s Not Now, Not Ever taskforce report by former Governor-General Quentin Bryce was an “historical turning point” in the ongoing fight against domestic violence.

The report identified inadequacies in policing the problem, including a “just another domestic” attitude among many officers.

It found that the police response “must be improved” and recommended a “pro-investigation and protection policy” that makes victim safety “paramount” and “prioritises arrest” of perpetrators.

Since the new taskforce was established, Coast police figures show a spike in the number of domestic violence protection order breaches, with a record 216 in March – up from 124 a year earlier – as police step up enforcement and crack down on perpetrators.

The number of protection orders issued through Southport Magistrates Court, where a new specialist DV court is being trialled, has also increased by more than 40 per cent, Hogan says.

“Basically, it’s very much about accountability for offenders,’’ he says, speaking publicly for the first time about the taskforce to mark Domestic and Family Violence Protection Month.

“(It’s about) letting victims and offenders know that violence won’t be tolerated.’’

Karina Lock died brutally and publicly in an awful 48 hours last September.

Hogan says having senior investigators on the taskforce, some of whom have worked in specialist squads such as the Child Protection Investigation Unit and CIB, allows police to dig deeper into often complex family situations and probe other crimes such as stalking and assaults which could be linked to domestic violence.

The new taskforce is partnering with groups including the Gold Coast Domestic Violence Prevention Centre, Gold Coast Centre Against Sexual Assault, Department of Child Safety and Probation and Parole to triage domestic violence cases and potential safety threats at twice-weekly meetings, and come up with solutions as part of an integrated response.

Domestic violence concerns reported by neighbours, frontline police and DV workers are workshopped and investigated by the taskforce, which can respond 24 hours a day, seven days a week with anything from arrests to helping with safety plans for at-risk women and children, Hogan says.

“The strength of all this lays in collaboration between our community and community groups,’’ he says.

Gold Coast police Chief Superintendent Terry Borland says he believes DV breaches and protection order applications are increasing because victims now have more confidence to report their fears.

“I think there’s more confidence that victims of domestic and family violence are going to get some support, some action,’’ he says.

Michelle Adam, of the Gold Coast Domestic Violence Prevention Centre, says the new taskforce is making “a huge difference” and is “undoubtedly saving lives”.

“The feedback we’re getting from women is that they’re getting a better response from police because in the past, not all women have had a great response,’’ she says.

“The police are being a lot more proactive and the women feel as if they’re more approachable. It’s definitely helping keep women and children safer on the Coast.’’

Adam says police have been able to intervene after “very serious, high risk situations” came to the attention of DV workers. Violent ex-partners released from jail are being closely monitored, and women provided with daily protection and support by officers.

“We haven’t seen that previously,’’ Adam says.

Hogan says his team is determined to make lasting change.

“We as police joined this job to help others and the impacts of family and domestic violence can be tragic and highly devastating,’’ he says.

“It’s early days but we think we’re starting to make an impact. I don’t see us ever going back to the way it was.’’

Email Greg Stolz

Originally published as Gold Coast Domestic and Family Violence Taskforce helping to make Queensland a safer place