Jian Huang Murder: Run-of-mill 'domestic' can easily turn tragic

By SCOTT MacLEOD

Greg O'Connor, policeman, took the worst thumping of his career trying to break up a family fight. He was unable to hit back because he was clutching a child.

Now president of the police union, he says a scene in the film Once Were Warriors where blood gushes from Beth's split lip shows a domestic injury typical of many he has seen during 24 years in the force.

During that time, he has also seen many changes in the way officers tackle "domestics."

These tactics are now being scrutinised in the light of the fatal stabbing of a New Lynn woman who was meant to be under the protection of police.

A senior officer who knows the facts of the New Lynn case says the constables were let down by lack of experience.

The officer, who will not be named, says many of his colleagues hate dealing with domestic and custodial stoushes because they can be "messy."

Ninety-nine per cent of the time they are "just another domestic," he says, but "you can't afford to be complacent."

Mr O'Connor disputes that complacency has crept into the force.

"In the old days, maybe it was just a domestic. There seemed to be no point making an arrest because the wife would pay for it anyway, and she usually wouldn't give evidence.

"But since the 1980s, we have started treating these incidents as a crime scene. If the wife is dripping blood, then that's evidence of an assault that will be used in court."

Yet this assurance fails to explain Saturday's stabbing, when Chinese woman Jian Huang was killed at her home after going to the trouble to fetch police and drive with them to the scene, albeit in different cars.

Neither does it explain how police failed to respond to three desperate 111 calls from Auckland woman Ana Lavea last September while she was being attacked with a knife by her former boyfriend.

Mr O'Connor says officers acted in "almost textbook" fashion in the leadup to the Huang stabbing.

So what do the textbooks say?

The Herald has obtained a complex 29-step flowchart from police national headquarters showing guidelines for dealing with family violence. The chart says officers should have the victim repeat his or her complaint in front of the offender.

There is no mention of steps that could have prevented the Huang killing, such as whether police should stick close to a potential victim at the scene.

However, the police family violence policy of 1996 states that protecting victims is one of three key principles in dealing with family violence. The others are forcing offenders to be accountable and ensuring that all agencies and groups have "consistent" ways of dealing with the problem.

In practice, police say they aim to calm everyone down, clear immediate threats and look for evidence of a crime. If evidence is found, further action is taken.

Some police say their standard ploy is to separate males from one another at potential flashpoints.

Mrs Huang drove to the death scene in her own car, while her boyfriend travelled in the police car.

Two officers told the Herald yesterday that police must therefore have expected violence at the scene, and wanted to keep the boyfriend away from the woman's estranged husband.

Family violence statistics make grim reading. Figures for 1998 show 10,000 children and 6000 women spent time in refuges. Women averaged seven visits before leaving their partners. A Coopers and Lybrand study last year found that family violence costs society $1.2 billion a year.

Another study, of 166 family violence cases, found that more than 45 per cent of police callouts were repeat visits - in some cases the fifth or more to the same household. One-third of the men police met during these visits had protection orders against them.

More legal powers, some controversial, are being proposed to help the victims of domestic bashings.

This year the Law Commission will ponder whether the so-called battered women's syndrome should carry more weight in court, meaning victims who kill their abusive partners could spend less time in jail.

Apart from arresting spouse-bashers, police also refer victims to agencies such as Women's Refuge.

All 56 refuges send data each month to their national headquarters in Wellington.

According to the headquarters, Maori and Pacific Island women often complain that police fail to respond when they report that a protection order has been breached.

The women start to feel responsible for their beatings.

Refuge chief executive Merepeka Raukawa-Tait praises police for some improvements in dealing with family disputes, but believes they still have a long way to go.

"It's unfortunate that police have discretionary powers, because their attitudes vary from area to area. Some officers have a very, very warped view on what domestic violence is.

"Most importantly, all women must be given the same consideration irrespective of their race - in other words, stop the racism."

Protection orders fall under the Domestic Violence Act 1995, and are meant to shield victims from abusive partners or family members.

Mrs Raukawa-Tait says police are often lax in enforcing the orders, and too few arrests are made.

"There are areas in New Zealand where the police are dragging the chain. Auckland is one such area."

The refuges want to help train police.

They say they have worked closely with the force on training schemes in the past 18 months, and want to be more involved with the Police College in Porirua.

Despite criticism and the occasional blunder, police can point to an official complaints body to back their claim that they generally deal well with family violence.

The deputy Police Complaints Authority, Judge Ian Borrin, says he is probing just a "handful" of domestic incidents.

He is unable to give a firm figure, partly because the definition of domestic violence is somewhat blurred.

The Police Association's Mr O'Connor agrees that finding a definition is tricky. He disputes whether the Huang stabbing counts as domestic, because the man charged with her murder lived at a different address.

He firmly believes the constables acted correctly.

"The implications in the Herald are slightly exaggerated," he says. "Any inquiry will find they are not true."