North Shore takes winning stance on family violence

The brutal murder of a North Shore resident in 2004 sparked a new approach to preventing family violence on the North Shore.

Mother-of-six Cheryl Pareanga was killed by her partner, a tragic event potentially preventable if the community agencies already working with her had shared information more effectively.

To address the issue, the North Shore’s Safer Families Foundation and Child, Youth and Family made a formal commitment to work together more closely, while Police joined the partnership in 2005.

At the time, North Shore Police were handling around 3000 cases of family violence a year. The challenge was to create a model enabling all partners to share information according to best practice, their statutory obligations and the laws under which they operated, including the Privacy Act.

The ‘Takapuna model’ was highly commended in the New Zealand Community Safety and Injury Prevention Awards - a timely win given the launch of a major family violence prevention campaign in early September.

“Working together, our three organisations have developed an approach with a strong focus on teamwork and respect for each other’s boundaries, priorities and expertise,” says Tracey Swanberg, Safer Families Foundation Manager.

“It uses the government’s family violence prevention strategy (Te Rito) as its foundation, together with a mutual agreement that the safety of women and children is paramount, and perpetrators must be held accountable.”

“We’re scrupulous about protecting confidential information, but also passionately committed to protecting our community and preventing family violence and injuries to women and children,” says Senior Sergeant Bruce Wood, North Shore Community Relations Manager.

“We now operate a comprehensive system that captures information on every child involved in domestic violence incidents and ensures they are given the care and protection they need. By doing so we hope, long term, to break the cycle of violence that pervades so many families on the North Shore.”

Bruce says the model is more than reactive - it also includes a number of proactive measures.

“For example, we’ve expanded our Police family violence reports so we gather a lot more information at the scene of an incident, particularly in relation to the children. We’re also more vigilant in monitoring perpetrators, such as with home visits and curfew and bail checks.”

The organisations have also established SAVES (Shore Anti Violence Essential Services), an agreement that formalises the relationship, outlines best practice responses to family violence and facilitates an integrated response by related service providers throughout North Shore City.

Since the Takapuna model was established, only one child on the North Shore has had to be removed from their mother’s care for family violence issues.

Repeat offending in the area has also reduced, while incident reporting rates are increasing, a trend Bruce says indicates greater community confidence and trust in all three organisations and others working in the local family violence prevention network.

Senior Sergeant Bruce Wood, North Shore Community Policing Manager

with, from left: Anne Casey, Practice Leader, Child, Youth and Family;

Tracey Swanberg, Manager of the Safer Families Foundation; and Minister of ACC, Ruth Dyson.