Domestic violence: Brutal murder spurs greater police and agencies efforts to tackle SA cases 7.30 South Australia By court reporter James Hancock Updated Mon 23 Jun 2014, 9:52am AEST A brutal murder in front of hundreds of people has been a catalyst for greater supervision of domestic violence cases in South Australia. Police Deputy Commissioner Grant Stevens says such measures could have helped had they existed before Adelaide woman Zahra Abrahimzdeh was stabbed by her estranged husband in front of hundreds of horrified people. From next month, a new protection service will be progressively rolled out and will involved a number of government agencies, including SA Health and Families SA. Mrs Abrahimzadeh was stabbed to death at a Persian new year event at the Adelaide Convention Centre in March 2010. A year before her death, the woman and her three children sought help from police at suburban stations at Salisbury, Elizabeth, Port Adelaide and Netley. They also rang the police assistance line. But an inquest after the womans death heard of errors and omissions, involving both junior and senior police officers. Mrs Abrahimzdehs husband, Ziaollah, was never spoken to by police about his wifes allegations of violence, despite them having a significant amount of information which could help find him. Deputy Commissioner Stevens says police let down the family. We saw a series of minor mistakes, compounded by some what I believe to be some reasonable failures, significant failures, which meant that police didnt take action where they should have, he said. Supervisors carry a significant responsibility ... in this case we saw occasions where supervisors failed to properly supervise. I was disappointed with our response, I think we let down the family and in fact I wouldnt hesitate in saying that the police response in this particular case wasnt what was required. But Mr Stevens says changes have now been made, including better domestic violence training for police. This case was a watershed for us, we identified opportunities to make improvements and those improvements are being made right now, he said. There are occasions when people do make mistakes, we understand that, what we dont understand is when people dont do their job properly through negligence. Several officers have been disciplined since the womans death. The Multi-Agency Protection Service (MAPS) for South Australia is being based on a UK program which has been operating for more than three years. Meetings are being held with government agencies on specific operational details. At present, family safety meetings are held across the state once per fortnight to review domestic violence cases and work out effective strategies. Daily review of domestic violence matters MAPS will review cases daily and can demand an intervention if police have failed to respond. MAPS will provide a higher level of oversight and a higher level of information sharing, Mr Stevens said. Weve comprehensively reviewed our systems and were confident that the vast majority of South Australian police officers, supervisors, frontline police, detectives, investigators do an outstanding job. Family safety meetings had not been introduced in 2009-10 for the part of Adelaide where Zahra Abrahimzadeh lived. Her daughter Atena say the intervention changes have come too late for her mother but she hopes other women will benefit. I hope that it does work, I really do, because there are women out there that are going through what we went through, what mum went through and that needs to be stopped and police need to actually do something about it, she said. They need to stop these people, the men that do this. Breaches of restraining orders in South Australia and probably across Australia are really not taken as seriously as I know they are taken in other parts of the world. Megan Hughes The Coalition of Womens Domestic Violence Services also is optimistic about the changes. Coalition member Megan Hughes says the police response has still been inadequate at times. Breaches of restraining orders in South Australia and probably across Australia are really not taken as seriously as I know they are taken in other parts of the world, she said. Until we get that right, we are going to see deaths of women and children. South Australian Coroner Mark Johns is yet to give his findings in the Abrahimzadeh case.
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 04:00:01 +0000
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