The short version
- Mapping shows that the police carried out the SARA risk assessment in 5 out of 95 partner homicide cases from 2013 to January 2024.
- At least 23 of the couples were known to the police, but the majority were unknown.
- The proportion of partner murders in Norway has increased in the last two years.
- Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl admits that the use of the SARA tool must improve.
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Since 2013, the police have been required to make an assessment of the risk of more violence in intimate partner violence cases. For that, they use a risk tool called SARAHSARA (spousal assault risk assessment) is a checklist with a number of questions that look at the antecedents of the perpetrator and victim. .
Today, there is no national overview of the use of the SARA tool.
VG has asked all the police districts in the country for an answer as to whether such an assessment has been carried out ahead of the 95th the partner murders The category partner murder includes all murders where there has been a current or previous love relationship (boyfriend, cohabitant, marriage). Some cases with a looser connection, such as “dating”, are also included in those cases where the murder is due to one of the parties wanting to end the relationship. In the most recent cases, as well as where the perpetrators are dead, the police’s charges and VG’s own investigations are used as the basis for categorization. which has occurred from 2013 up to and including January this year.
The most important findings are:
- In the majority of the murders, the couples were completely unknown to the police
- In at least 23 of the cases, the couple were known to the police before the murder
- SARA was only used before five of the murders since the method was imposed on the police.
However, research in the field gives a completely different picture than that most are unknown: It shows that in 7 out of 10 partner murders after 2012, violence was registered with one or more agencies before the murder.
This could be, for example, a GP, crisis center or child protection.
But most of these cases did not reach the police – before they had to go to a murder.
– It shows that this is not just a responsibility of the police alone. It cannot be ruled out that much could have been prevented in a better way if people had talked better together, says Sigurd Andreas Moe, head of the violence section in Kripos, to VG.
Kripos
Several cases with a history of violence
In the last two years, the share has partner murderIn the category “partner murder”, VG has included cases where a partner or ex-partner has been charged, prosecuted or convicted of murder. All cases have not been decided in court and in several cases the partner does not plead guilty. shot in the air. Last year, partner murder accounted for just under half of the murders committed in Norway.
The research thus shows that in most cases that end with a partner’s murder, there has been a history of violence beforehand.
Partner homicide research
A research group at Oslo University Hospital has carried out two studies in which they have analyzed all partner murders in the period 1990–2020.
The first study ran from 1990 to 2012, the second from 2012 to 2020.
The partner homicide studies showed that 80 per cent of the perpetrators and 75 per cent of the victims had been in contact with the police, the healthcare system or other assistance before the murder.
6 out of 10 perpetrators and 7 out of 10 victims had also sought help in private relationships. This had not changed after 2012.
The proportion of partner murders where partner violence had been registered by one or more agencies prior to the murder was unchanged. It was still the case that they found previous partner violence in 7 out of 10 partner murders.
These results correspond with international studies which show that there has been previous partner violence in 65-80 per cent of all partner murders, and repeated partner violence in 25-65 per cent.
Source: Solveig Bø Vatnar/Oslo University Hospital
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It also showed the work of the Government-appointed Partner Homicide Committee. They reviewed a selection of murders committed in the period from 2014 to 2017.
They concluded that most partner murders had occurred after one or more forewarnings. In all cases there had been violence prior to the murder, and most of the couples had been in contact with the police or emergency services.
They also found no trace of SARA having been carried out in any of the murders they examined, even though partner violence was reported or suspected in several of the cases.
To VG, the head of the committee, Professor Ragnhild Hennum, refers to one of the discoveries they made when it came to cooperation between the agencies.
– The cases left an impression that cooperation and coordination were to a small extent an integral part of the activities of the agencies. Where such cooperation did occur, this seemed to be linked to the initiative of individuals, or based on chance.
She also points out that there were few examples of interdisciplinary collaboration meetings before the murder.
– Despite the fact that most of the victims and perpetrators were in contact with several agencies, and lived for a long time with partner violence and other living conditions challenges.
– Serious
Of the at least 23 couples who were known to the police, the police districts have reported that several of those later killed had requested various measures from the police – for example a restraining order.
Below you can click and read about the five murder cases where the police had assessed a risk of murder, but where the victim was still killed:
Bjørn Vandvik in the Norwegian Police Directorate (POD) says that on average the police carry out risk assessments in six out of ten partner violence cases. He has previously told VG that it is something they take seriously.
– POD has ordered all police districts to undergo a structured risk assessment in all cases involving intimate partner violence. When it is not done in all cases, it is serious, says Vandvik.
Department director in the Norwegian Police Directorate
Nevertheless, he believes that some murders occur without pretext, and that SARA also does not provide a guarantee that murders can still happen.
– It is important to see this in a holistic perspective, where the support system is also important and has a role in preventing this type of incident, he says.
At the same time, POD sees that the districts report that they largely assess risk, but do not necessarily use SARA as a tool.
This is how VG has worked
- VG has mapped all partner murders since SARA was introduced in the police districts in 2013, up to and including January 2024.
- The tool was put into use at different times in the districts, so the mapping applies from the dates it was implemented.
- In two of the cases, the police say that they have made assessments of whether there is a risk of violence, but not by using SARA.
- VG has not included the murder of Kvikne in 2023, where a German woman was killed. Her German boyfriend was charged with the murder. The couple had no history in Norway prior to the murder.
- VG has also not included a case in Valldal from 2023 where a woman was found dead after a fire. The reason for this is that the police believe that the suspicion against the accused man has weakened, because the autopsy report showed that she probably died from a mixture of intoxication with ethanol and a centrally suppressing drug before the fire. The police had used SARA before the death.
- In a further four of the cases, the couple had a known history of violence, but before the police were required to use SARA. These cases are therefore not included.
- In five cases, the police have not answered whether there is a history, so it may be more than the 23 cases we have been told.
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– So it’s not either or necessarily. Good follow-up in the districts requires both capacity and competence. Recently, several measures have been implemented which we believe will contribute to us getting a better structure for how the police work with these cases.
– Let there be no doubt; cases involving violence in close relationships are among the very highest priority cases in the police, says Vandvik.
– Must be better
Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) says that the tool is in use in all police districts, but that it is a question of competence and capacity.
– It has to get better, is the minister’s reaction to the fact that SARA has only been used in five out of 95 partner murders.
– I have spoken to many police officers who work at local police stations – either here in Eastern Norway or in Western Norway. They experience being torn between different tasks and not being enough as a human being. For example, they fail to follow up the SARA tool well enough.
– The figures show that in at least 23 cases that end in partner murder, the couple has been known to the police. What do you think about it?
– I have no doubt that there is always room for improvement. I think there are probably a lot of police officers out there who want to do more, and who may not be able to. Sometimes due to resources and that is my responsibility. But also sometimes because of how the case looks.
In two murder cases, the police have not answered whether SARA has been carried out. It concerns a murder in Oslo and a murder in Lørenskog. In five of the murders, the police districts have not answered whether they knew the couple.
What is SARA?
SARA (spousal assault risk assessment) is a checklist with a number of questions that look at the antecedents of the perpetrator and victim. The police must, among other things, get answers to:
- How much violence has there been?
- Are there several types of violence?
- Is the victim in danger?
- How serious can the violence become?
The answers should enable the police to take appropriate measures to protect the victim of violence. This may include, among other things, a ban on visitors, a ban on contact and/or a violence alarm.
After the police have received a report of family violence, the police must make an assessment of the future risk of violence. The assessment must be made within ten working days after the violence has been reported or has become known to law enforcement.
The checklist contains 15 risk factors linked to the perpetrator’s history of violence, his social and mental functioning level and the victim’s vulnerability.
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