Is this the solution to violence in the home?
A new way to combat domestic violence – which claims the life of one woman every week – could be brought to Australia.
It was developed in Dallas, Texas, where family homicides have fallen from 31 to three since 2012.
The unique zero-tolerance initiative combines specialised police units, trained counsellors and a dedicated domestic violence court headed by a trailblazing young judge.
Similar courts are about to be trialed in Australia, starting with Queensland and Victoria.
Sunday Night cameras were the first allowed into Dallas County Criminal Court 10 where Judge Roberto Canas handles 250 cases a week. In six years no offender has committed another serious offence.
Reporter Melissa Doyle met one of the success stories - Kevin Osborn who has rebuilt his life and family after being given a lifeline by Judge Canas.
"It was still tough in the beginning I struggled with my anger and didn’t want to do the program, I didn’t want to do it at all, I didn’t think anyone could complete it with how rigorous it is," He says.
"They’re managing to deal effectively with a problem that’s simply out of control back home in Australia. What happens in this court is extraordinary," Mel Doyle says about the program.
In return for a guilty plea, Judge Canas offers offenders a suspended sentence dependent them successfully completing a six-month Batterer’s Intervention and Prevention Program.
The men avoid long sentences but if they fail to complete the intense counseling and anger management sessions they go to prison.
Director of the program, David Almager, says it is a process that requires offenders to take ownership of and understand their behaviour.
"The numbers that we show here is that 94 percent of the individuals who complete the program did not reoffend," Almager says.
"It’s something we are very proud of but more importantly we are proud of the safety we are providing a community”.
"Domestic violence in the US probably looks a lot like domestic violence in Australia and we certainly have gone through a lot of testing and molding and changing," Judge Canas says.
In addition to Judge Canas’ court, tough new protocols for the Dallas police mean domestic violence cases are treated as a top priority handled by seasoned detectives.
"Once the population learns that there’s a no-nonsense approach, zero tolerance approach, to family violence the word gets around ‘hey don’t mess up in this capacity'," Patrolman Al Kalota tells Mel.
Watch the full story, and join a live Q&A with Judge Roberto Canas, on Sunday August 30.
