Racism, sexism, and a culture of fear and secrecy pervade Queensland Police. And it’s not just a matter of “a few bad apples”.
That’s thanks to a “failure of leadership”, among other factors, according to the Queensland police inquiry by Justice Deborah Richards, which released its findings and recommendations on Monday afternoon.
The police culture, which goes back decades, is impacting domestic violence policing and failing victims, according to Justice Richards’ report, who also noted that victim-survivors are being misidentified as perpetrators, police are avoiding domestic and family-related calls for service, and that investigations are not up to expected standards.
The report found that a “local management resolution” was a common punishment for police officers who had been found to have engaged in serious racist or sexist behaviour. Essentially, they were given a talking to.
The report makes for difficult reading, described as “raw and confronting”, by Premier Anastasia Palaszczuk.
But while the Premier said her government is committed to implementing the recommendations, and immediately rolled out funding to support domestic and family violence officers within police stations, this is a “failure of leadership” that seems unlikely to result in any leaders actually losing their jobs.
Despite the serious issues identified, the current setup of the senior leadership of the service looks set to continue.
Currently, that includes police commissioner Katarina Carroll, whom The Guardian reports had been initially adamant that no cultural issues existed across the police service, giving a written statement that she did “not accept” cultural issues were present. So much so, that she initially declined the invitation to actually appear at the inquiry. Her deputy commissioner, Steve Gollschewski, also continues in his leadership role.
Both Carroll and Gollschewski have been backed by the Premier to lead the recommendations reform.
Forty per cent of officers who participated in a survey from the inquiry said that senior Queensland Police Service leaders did not send a positive message on the importance of eliminating domestic and family violence. Meanwhile, bullying and abuse within the service are going underreported, with a culture of fear and silencing preventing victims and witnesses from coming forward.
“If the QPS is to improve its responses to domestic and family violence, it will be important for the leadership to hear and acknowledge those among the QPS membership who feel abandoned, disillusioned and silenced,” Justice Richards writes in the report.
“It is unlikely that present and future commitments by the leadership to improving police responses to domestic and family violence will be effective unless it does so.”
The report makes more than 70 recommendations, all of which the Queensland Government has promised to implement. These recommendations include more police training, more resources and offices to support domestic violence policing, more DV liaison officers, as well as specialist First Nations and LGBTI+ community representatives.
It also recommends that a special domestic violence victims’ commission be appointed to support in reviewing complaints from victims. Noting that police are the “gatekeepers to the justice system”, Justice Richards said that if their response is performed poorly, perpetrators can be emboldened, victim-survivors may feel turned off from approaching for further help, and ultimately lives can be put at risk.
Delivering the report on Monday afternoon, Premier Palaszczuk said, “this is a wakeup call for everything to be cleaned up. She said the report was “raw and confronting” but ultimately will help improve the response to family and domestic violence.
She said in response that her government will be positioning domestic and family violence support workers in Queensland police stations, and issuing a $225 million package to help strengthen laws so victim-survivors of domestic, family and sexual violence, “know when they come forward, the criminal justice system will support them.”
“This is an opportunity to be better, and we will,” the Premier said.
So far, that looks set to happen with the same people leading the Queensland Police Service.