The number of domestic violence reports received by the police doubled in the week after mother-of-two Bernice Cassar was shot dead last month in Corradino, allegedly by her estranged husband.

“After that case, we saw a spike in reports for about a week. We were getting about 13 or 14 reports a day when usually we’d get about six,” said Superintendent Johann Fenech, who heads the police vice squad.

Superintendent Johann Fenech. Photo: Jonathan Borg

Fenech puts the increase in reports down to victims’ fear of having something more drastic happen to them should they not file a police report.

In an interview, he spoke about what filing a report entails and the burnout faced by members of the squad’s domestic violence unit amid the increase in reports over the years.

The unit came in for criticism following the murder of Cassar, who was shot dead while driving to work at Corradino industrial estate last month. Her estranged husband,  Roderick Cassar has been charged with femicide and is pleading not guilty.

After the shooting, her relatives and friends spoke out about a system that they said had failed Bernice.

She had left the matrimonial home in May after her husband allegedly held a knife to her throat and filed a police report but the case was scheduled for a year’s time, November 17.

The prime minister has ordered an inquiry into the system.

Fenech said domestic violence reports had increased following the setting up of the unit at the end of 2020.

According to police statistics tabled in parliament last month, the number of domestic violence cases reported to the police grew by 70 per cent over the past nine years, with this year set to be another record breaker.

The unit received 1,665 reports in 2021 and 1,576 so far this year, Fenech said.

It operates around the clock with 33 police officers (working on four shifts) five of whom are inspectors. More staff are being recruited.

“There is burnout. We have referred some officers to the Employment Support Programme [which offers counselling and support]... there are not enough people,” Fenech said.

“Before the domestic violence unit was set up, the reports were taken in the various police stations. Now they all come to the unit.”

Police burnout was flagged in a recent study titled ‘Perpetrators of Domestic Violence: Statistics and Perceptions of Risk Factors for Harmful Behaviour’, carried out by the Faculty for Social Well-being. One officer told the researchers: “Drained, we’re literally drained.”

Why a case can be 'exhausted'

Fenech said that since the unit was set up it has received 3,668 domestic violence reports of which 194 had been “exhausted” and 95 led to a conviction.

A case can be exhausted for various reasons.

For example, victims may refuse to testify against their alleged abuser or they may withdraw their criminal complaint.

“The law allows a person not to testify against a spouse or partner. This happens often, either because they are scared or because so much time has passed that the situation has been resolved one way or another.

“This can be very demoralising after all that work to take a person to court.”

The children’s area within the domestic violence unit

Filing a report

When a victim wants to file a domestic violence report they can either call 112 or go to the nearest police station. From there, they are sent or escorted to the domestic violence unit at police headquarters. An officer on duty takes the report and the victim is also offered a risk assessment, carried out by personnel on call from the government support agency Appoġġ.

The victim is determined to be at low, medium or high risk.

The risk assessment system used is called DASH: Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Honour Risk Identification. However, it has been criticised by magistrates, prosecutors, defence lawyers and the police mainly because the many cases ranked as “high risk” are overloading the system.

Fenech says the tool alone does not provide an accurate assessment. The police do not rely on the score but carry out their own background checks and investigations to determine how urgently to treat a case.

“There were times when the DASH score was low but the risk was high and vice versa,” he said.

Even though the unit is open 24 hours a day, most reports are filed after 6pm.

Once a report is filed, the police are bound by law to investigate and possibly charge the alleged perpetrator in court.

In such cases it is often one person’s word against the other’s, which makes the victim’s testimony crucial to securing a conviction.

In about a third of the cases, the victims “just want us to tell off their abuser”.

“We tell them that once they file the report we have to proceed and the case may end up in court... some walk away.”

Police have no say in timing of court hearings

There is no hard-and-fast rule in terms of what happens once a report is filed.

If the case is serious then the accused can be arrested and arraigned within 48 hours. In some cases the accused is placed on police bail until more evidence is collected.

Filing a report can take between one and two hours, depending on whether a risk assessment is needed. In cases where the alleged abuse involves children it can take longer.

We do not have the authority to force a person out of their home unless it is to arrest them- Superintendent Johann Fenech

The police can take up to two reports at any one time as there are two rooms available for this purpose. An equipped area is provided for children while their parent or guardian files the report.

If the case is not urgent, it is investigated and the accused is charged by citation in a domestic violence sitting.

However, only one magistrate is assigned to this court. Given the huge backlog, the government has pledged to assign another magistrate to hear these cases.

Fenech stressed it is up to the courts when to hear a case and the police do not have a say in this matter. In serious cases, the victim tends to leave the house until the case is heard.

“Here, there is a misconception as the police have often been criticised. We do not have the authority to force a person out of their home unless it is to arrest them.

“But when a person is released on bail it is only a magistrate that can order them to find an alternative place to live,” he said.

Unit to move out of headquarters

As for the way forward, Fenech says that one of the next steps is for the unit to move out of the police headquarters.

There are ongoing talks to set up hubs around the island.

This had first been mentioned in 2019 when then home affairs minister Michael Farrugia said that four hubs around Malta, and a possible mini-hub in Gozo, would house a number of police officers specially trained to deal with domestic violence cases.