Canterbury Mornings

A pilot programme in Canterbury is hoping to reduce family violence by engaging with the perpetrators when they are at their most vulnerable.Canterbury Police, He Waka Tapu and Integrated Safety Response have launched a six month pilot programme to tackle domestic violence.The programme involves workers, called navigators, going into police cells to work with the offenders.He Waka Tapu Chief Executive Jackie Burrows says she lost her son-in-law to suicide after he was locked in police cells."So I knew that where people are at their most vulnerable, and what we wanted to do was have our staff in there and engage while people are vulnerable and engage while they may be thinking about change."Burrows says the navigators will work with the perpetrators and their families both inside and outside of custody.She says it's a new way of working to try and curb domestic violence."It should increase that connectivity with the perpetrators and using our navigators personal experience to try and stop the cycle of offendin