‘Bread and butter’ policing: first-year constables and domestic violence

ABSTRACT Domestic violence is an extensive social issue in Australia. It is a complex crime encompassing different behaviours and situations, which challenge police in terms of recognition and response, as well as determining appropriate outcomes of justice. During their first year of police work (whilst being evaluated under competency measures), first-year constables in Australia are frequently deployed to respond to public calls for help. As such, they are regularly sent to investigate domestic violence. Yet knowledge regarding the effectiveness of first-year constables in their response to domestic violence and policing of these crimes is lacking in much of the policing literature. This article focuses on policing of domestic violence from the perspective of first-year constables working in one of the largest Australian state police organisations (de-identified as part of the ethics agreement). It examines the findings from 46 interviews and offers insight into a hitherto under-researched area regarding policing of domestic violence by officers at the start of their policing career.