Top cop confident WA officers can handle DV issues
WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch believes the entire police workforce has the adequate skills to deal with domestic violence issues appropriately and relay information immediately to relevant agencies.
An inquest into Queensland police’s handling of the death of Hannah Clarke and her three children prompted WA police minister Paul Papalia to examine how the state’s force handles domestic violence cases. Clarke’s husband Rowan Baxter set fire to the family SUV while she and their three young children were inside.
A coroner found it was “unlikely” police officers, domestic violence service providers, friends or family could have stopped Baxter, but suggested a major funding injection and urgent overhaul of domestic violence training.
“We have nearly 100,000 domestic violence call-outs a year … so on that first attendance by police, we have to do our part and usually our part is really important at that front end, that first attendance, and really understand the situations we’re going to,” he told Gareth Parker in his regular Wednesday segment on 6PR Breakfast.
LISTEN 👇 to what training our officers have in dealing with DV issues