Police bodycam footage shows the chilling moment police “coached” Rowan Baxter on how to challenge a DV (domestic violence) order.
It was filmed just two months before Baxter set a car containing his ex-wife Hannah Clarke and their three young children on fire, including the little girl seen clutching him in the video.
He then took his own life at the scene of the quadruple murder that shocked the country in February 2020.
The video, published by Guardian Australia, shows two police officers visiting the Queensland man a few weeks prior, serving him a domestic violence intervention order after he took his daughter interstate during a scheduled access visit.
Baxter protested his innocence to the officers, who appeared to give him advice on how to challenge the order.
“Talk to your friends about, you know, someone who might be willing to provide a reference,” the first officer said.
“To say you are a good dad and don’t need any conditions,” the second added.
Baxter said he’d heard women could get a DV order “for anything”, and the first officer replied: “They can. Yeah. You’re right.”
The second officer then marked the time and said “I’m going to terminate the recording”, before switching his bodycam off.
The video sparked outrage from Aussies – among them, anti-domestic violence campaigner and journalist Sherele Moody, who called it “abhorrent” and “unacceptable”.
“It’s not actually surprising, because we know police are basically guiding abusers in how to avoid problematic situations in terms of DVOs,” Moody told news.com.au.
“Women are saying this all the time. If anyone thinks this is a one-off, they’re deeply wrong. The only unusual thing about it is in this case, it’s been filmed.”
In particular, Moody took exception to the police officers agreeing with Baxter when he claimed it was easy for women to secure a DVO.
“A woman can’t get a DVO just by saying someone bashed her or making up stories – it is a process. But there’s an element within the police force that are more than happy to perpetuate that myth, even though they know better.”
She said the problem was happening “across the board” and was not limited to Queensland Police.
In a lengthy statement, Queensland Police said after the murders, it had “committed to an ongoing training programme that has enhanced officer understanding of domestic and family violence and educated officers in the nuances of coercive control”.
“Additionally, we have made significant changes to our systems and processes to better serve and protect the community,” a spokesperson said.
“This includes recording a criminal offence identified by police, even when the victim survivor indicates a desire not to engage in the criminal justice process, or where evidence does not support the commencement of a prosecution for the offence.
“Significant work has also been done to identify and address broader culture issues within the organisation that do not reflect the high standards and values we uphold.”
The spokesperson said the number of domestic violence incidents continued to rise year on year, and was “not something that can be fixed through enforcement and policing responses alone”.
Forensic psychologist Ahona Guha called the footage “shocking”, and said a “version of this probably plays out daily in the community across Australia”.
“The police and courts have a position of huge power and holding them to account for failure is important,” Guha wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald.
“This is an arduous task for victims and their families as police are usually investigated by their own members, and there is a strong culture of protecting one’s own.
“However, for victims, policing failure may be the difference between life and death.”
She added that “for men like Baxter, very few things act as a deterrent”.
“They are usually entitled, full of anger and vengeance, fixated entirely on their views of themselves as the victim and determined to right what they perceive as a wrong (ie, the victim escaping).
“Children are often used as pawns in these negotiations, and actions such as taking a child interstate without maternal consent (perhaps more correctly described as kidnapping) can occur. This is under-recognised as a mechanism of control and violence.”
Blogger Constance Hall also slammed the officers, saying the video showed “Hannah Clarke’s killer doing his sob story” and the police “validating him”.
“When will the authorities and lawmakers learn to tap into the infinite knowledge of survivors?” Hall wrote.
“I read comments saying that the police were right to explain to him how he can challenge the order.
“But these people don’t realise what having a cop even listen kindly to him will do to validate his malignant ego and encourage his behaviour.”
Queensland Police were also criticised over their handling of the investigation into the quadruple murder – in particular, comments a senior officer made to the media.
Speaking to a press conference a few days after the killings, Detective Inspector Mark Thompson – who was not one of the officers speaking with Baxter in the video – said police were keeping an “open mind” about the case.
“Is this an issue of a woman suffering significant domestic violence and her and her children perishing at the hands of the husband? Or is this an instance of a husband being driven too far?” he said.
After backlash from anti-domestic violence campaigners, Thompson was removed from the case by former Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll. He has since been promoted to superintendent.
Police have described the comments as part of a “media strategy” that “went wrong”, according to documents obtained by Guardian Australia.
Speaking notes for a seminar on the case run by Thompson and Assistant Commissioner Brian Swan suggested the comments were designed to encourage supporters or believers of Baxter to come forward.
Swan’s notes also said Thompson’s “intent was right” and he “should have remained” on the case.
Moody was not satisfied with the explanation in the notes.
“If they made that abysmal and disgusting comment in order to entrap an offender, I can see how it would be a strategy – but they had Baxter’s f***ing corpse in their possession,” she told news.com.au.
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