Mandatory Arrest Policies

States around the country have given police the right to make warrantless arrests on in partner violence and has even limited their ability to use discretion by implementing mandatory arrests. This has made the job of the police much more difficult because they must go about handling situations like domestic violence delicately. It does not make it any easier now that the term “domestic violence” has now grown into an umbrella term including disputes between adults and children, blood relatives, and couples who sometimes are and are not married. Because the job of the police involves so many different factors and the changing social climate, it’s become quite difficult to discern whether or not having mandatory arrest laws are helpful. They

Every action is followed by a reaction; however, occasionally the reaction is only a temporary solution that leads to long-term consequences. This is especially true of how domestic violence is currently governed by the criminal justice system and social norms. A lack of preventative care exists and this ignores the consequences of domestic violence in our society. Incidents of domestic violence are often treated as one-time or isolated occurrences; however, in many cases abusers and victims fall back into these learnt behaviors. Therefore, domestic violence is a never-ending cycle that cannot be stopped without cultural and legal changes that focus on preventing further instances of violence and empowering victims to break the cycle.

Domestic violence is skyrocketing in our society. In the U.S., as many as 1.5 million women and 850,000 men were physically assaulted by their intimate partner last year, and numerous children abused by their parents. These sad criminal acts will continue to grow in our society, unless our community takes action to stop these crimes.

This essay will critically analyse the significant changes that have occurred within domestic violence which is viewed as a vital subject within the criminal justice system. It will explore the way that domestic violence has progressively become a concerning issue in the criminal justice system from being relatively acceptable in recent history. In addition to this, the essay will explore legislation changes in relation to domestic violence and how the police have arguably been forced to change their attitudes towards a problem that was once thought of as a private regard. It will critically analyse the theories put forward as to why domestic violence occurs in today’s society. It will explore the weaknesses within the criminal justice system, especially the police in regards to domestic violence, the police previously viewed domestic violence as a matter of which they should not get involved. However as mentioned in the essay, after many reviews within the system, many improvements have been made to help protect the victim.

Code Ann. § 36-3-619, 2016). This particular section stipulates an officer can arrest a person where he or she believe there is probable cause that the person committed the crime involving domestic violence whether the crime was committed in his or her presence or not. The law enforcement officer has to determine the primary aggressor where he or she believes there is probable cause the crime was committed by more than one individual. One of the most important factors a police officer must consider is if more violence will occur if the alleged assailant is not quickly held behind bars.

Hirschel and Buzawa (2012) indicate that 34 states have primary aggressor laws giving officers further latitude to identify the perpetrator in domestic violence incidents thereby limiting the arrest of the victim. In determining the primary aggressor, there are four factors that officers use. The four factors that Rajah, Frye, and Haviland (2006) identified are: (1) whether either party is threatening or has threatened future harm toward household members; (2) comparative injuries; (3) prior history of domestic violence if determinable; (4) whether either party acted defensively to protect himself/herself. Despite these indicators, research conducted by Hirschel and Buzawa (2012) indicates that these factors are not uniform throughout those states with primary aggressor determinates contained in their statutes rather, wide latitude is given to the officer and dual arrests still occurred despite the changes. Still, research conducted in New York state where both mandatory arrest laws and primary aggressor determinates are enacted, Rajah et. al. (2006) found that many officer chose not to arrest the perpetrator in certain circumstances thus leaving victims unprotected and therefore chose to not report the violence in future occurrences. To ensure proper application of primary aggressor determinations, officers need specialized training in

The next section of this paper will provide three different studies that shed more light on the seriousness of domestic violence and the efficiency of batterer intervention programs. The first study will view domestic violence from the viewpoint of the victims; it will also explain the reason why most victims report their partners, and emphasize the need for batterer intervention programs. The second study will test the effectiveness of batterer intervention programs and how it relates to recidivism. The third study will test specifically the effectiveness of the different approaches to batterer intervention.

These include federal domestic violence laws and law enforcement measures. Common intervention strategies include batterer intervention programs, arrest, protection order, court intervention, and prosecution. Even though, increased warrantless arrests, firearm confiscation, prosecution, and financial aids to families with dependent children were associated with a decreased rate of domestic violence, research shows that some chronically aggressive intimate partners continue to abuse their partner regardless of the interventions. Furthermore, understanding demographic differences among victims and abusers including race and education level, can help to predict which intervention will work best for specific groups (National Institute of Justice, 2007). According to Bradford and el‘s opinion regarding the Criminal Justice System’s response to domestic violence, there is a need for service provider and policy makers to provide preventive interventions. The policies should provide crucial skills, attitudes, and knowledge that give partners a better chance of developing and sustaining a healthy mutual satisfying couple relationship” (Bradford & el, 2015). According to research documentation (women's health magazine, 2013), despite the above measures by the state government, the prevalence of the abuse persists. Furthermore, measures against physiological/ verbal

Having a clear understanding of policing domestic violence is essential. Many people always wonder what steps are necessary for preventing domestic violence and making it less tolerant to society. Throughout my entire undergraduate educational experience I have focused primarily on why domestic violence occurs and how it affects the individuals in those particular households. With this research, I am more interested in what researchers believe police should do that would lead to more effective control over domestic violence.

The one word that best characterizes the experience of domestic violence victims within the criminal justice system is, "complicated." Victims suffer from a two-fold problem when dealing with the criminal justice system. When dealing with law enforcement and courts, many victims might be not taken seriously or their wishes not respected. This poses a significant problem, as if victims feel they cannot trust the system to help them, they will not seek help in the future when they need it. This, in turn, creates the opposite of the deterrent effect the criminal justice system wants, as abusers learn that their victims will not seek help, allowing them full control over them.

Looking at what we know about the prevention of domestic violence and studies that have led to more affective practices in eliminating and preventing domestic violence with repeat offenders. The Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment, was just that an experiment by police to determine the effects of arrest versus separation of individuals involved in a domestic dispute. The Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment also led to experiments in other cities including Omaha Nebraska, Miami Florida, Charlotte North Carolina, Colorado Springs Colorado, and Milwaukee Wisconsin, and were directed by Sherman. These five SARP experiments followed the Minneapolis experiment model closely enough to allow valid comparisons. The MDVE has

Depending on the community the mandatory arrest policy could be very valuable to domestic violence victims. However, there is much to be altered about this policy before it could be generalized among various populations. The safety of the victim is the ultimate goal to be accomplished within domestic calls to the police. Considering research among domestic violence is still essentially in it’s early stages, it may be some time before truly effective policies are in

Domestic violence is one of many precarious types of calls that a patrol officer responds to during his or her shift. Every state enacts its own laws for affecting an arrest regarding domestic violence, and it is imperative that the primary officer determine who the aggressor is and affect an arrest according to state laws and departmental policies.

This essay will look at the need for changes to police policy and practice when looking at the issue of domestic abuse, it will focus on looking at how effective these changes have been, why the changes were needed and recognising any areas that need further improvement. In order to evaluate these changes, this essay will specifically look at four areas, these being the history of police policies, changes in policies, police practice history and finally, changes to police practice.

According to data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), in 2003 to 2012, domestic violence accounted for almost a quarter of all violent crimes committed. According to the same survey conducted, only 55% of those domestic violence crimes were reported to the police. Based on a study that was conducted on past domestic violence crimes, there was a decline of domestic violence from 1994-2003 but in recent years, depending on the type of intimate partner violence, each either had a small increase or stayed the same (Truman, 2014).