Improving police risk assessment and management of family violence through a collaboration between law enforcement, forensic mental health and academia
| Pages | 119-131 |
| Date | 12 June 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JCRPP-01-2017-0004 |
| Published date | 12 June 2017 |
| Author | Troy E. McEwan,Stuart Bateson,Susanne Strand |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology |
Invited paper
Improving police risk assessment and
management of family violence through
a collaboration between law enforcement,
forensic mental health and academia
Troy E. McEwan, Stuart Bateson and Susanne Strand
Abstract
Purpose –Police play an essential role in reducing harms associated with family violence by identifying
people at increased risk of physical or mental health-related harm and linking them with support services. Yet
police are often poorly trained and resourced to conduct the kind of assessments necessary to identify family
violence cases presenting with increased risk. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach –This paper describes a multi-project collaboration between law
enforcement, forensic mental health, and academia that has over three years worked to improve risk
assessment and management of family violence by police in Victoria, Australia.
Findings –Evaluation of existing risk assessment instruments used by the state-wide police force showed
they were ineffective in predicting future police reports of family violence (AUC ¼0.54-0.56). However, the
addition of forensic psychology expertise to specialist family violence teams increased the number of risk
management strategies implemented by police, and suggested that the Brief Spousal Assault Form for the
Evaluation of Risk assessment instrument may be appropriate for use by Australian police (AUC¼0.63).
Practical implications –The practical implications of this study are as follows: police risk assessment
procedures should be subject to independent evaluation to determine whether they are performing
as intended; multidisciplinary collaboration within police units can improve police practice; drawing
on expertisefrom agencies external to police offersa way to improve evidence-basedpolicing, and structured
professionaljudgement risk assessmentcan be used in policing contextswith appropriate trainingand support.
Originality/value –The paper describes an innovative collaboration between police, mental health, and
academia that is leading to improved police practices in responding to family violence. It includes data from
the first evaluation of an Australian risk assessment instrument for family violence, and describes methods of
improving police systems for responding to family violence.
Keywords Policing, Evidence-based practice, Risk assessment, Intimate partner violence,
Actuarial risk assessment, Family violence
Paper type Research paper
Family and intimate partner violence have been identified as “major public health problems”by
the World Health Organization (2014). In Australia, the cost of intimate partner violence towards
women and children was estimated to reach $15.6 billion by 2020-2021, without considering the
costs of other forms of family violence, such as child to parent violence, sibling violence, child
abuse, or violence between other family members (National Council to Reduce Violence Against
Women and Their Children (NCRVAWC), 2009). A significant proportion of these costs arise from
the fact that over the past 15 years in Australia a woman has been killed every week, and a man
Received 25 January 2017
Revised 7 February 2017
Accepted 7 February 2017
This research was supported by
research grants from the Macedon
Ranges and North West
Melbourne Medicare Local. The
funder had no involvement in the
design of the research, analysis,
or submission. The authors
acknowledge the contributions of
Gordana Letic, Dr Stefan
Luebbers, Julia Nazarewicz,
Professor James Ogloff,
Svenja Senkans, Melanie
Simmons, Dr Ben Spivak, and
Dr Melisa Wood in conducting this
research. This research was
conducted with the cooperation
of Victoria Police; however, the
views of the authors do not
necessarily reflect the views
of the Government of Victoria or
Victoria Police.
The authors’affiliations can be
found at the end of this article.
DOI 10.1108/JCRPP-01-2017-0004 VOL. 3 NO. 2 2017, pp.119-131, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2056-3841
j
JOURNAL OF CRIMINOLOGICAL RESEARCH, POLICY AND PRACTICE
j
PAGE119
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