Responding to Domestic Violence, Essay Example

I certainly think that arrests should not be mandatory in all situations: not all situations are the same, and it will not always be the case that a domestic violence situation will fit the pattern of batterer and victim—after all, there are cases of mutual violence. It seems to me that police officers should the organizational and legal support to be able to make such judgment calls at the scene: they should be able to decide whether an arrest is warranted, or if another option would make more sense. It seems to me that perhaps in some cases, some of the other options that have been tried should be implemented: policy options like protective orders, crisis counseling, and—perhaps in some cases—simply restoring order (Buzawa et al., 2012, p. 159).

Again, all of this will depend on the character of the situation: that is the cardinal idea. I simply do not believe that arrest as a one-size-fits-all solution is warranted, because not all situations are the same and we should not expect that a single solution will work in all cases. With regards to motivation and compliance, I simply do not accept the notion that such liability is necessary to ensure that all officers follow the law, inasmuch as this is quite the generalization.

For me, the bottom line is that domestic violence cases should be a major priority. I understand that within police culture there is still no small amount of aversion to handling them, at least in some circles, but in light of the magnitude, severity and pervasiveness of domestic violence incidents I do not see how we can afford to do anything but prioritize such crimes. Truthfully, I find it difficult to see how very many crimes could or should be prioritized above domestic violence situations, generally speaking. Nonetheless, I do understand that there is some need to prioritize and ensure that it is not simply a marital spat that is non-violent. Accordingly, police should use their best judgment to ascertain the situation, and prioritize accordingly.

In light of the MDVE and the replication studies, I personally think that arrests should only be made if the police either have good evidence that one partner has abused the other (i.e. bruises, black eyes, etc.) and/or see one partner hit the other or threaten the other, i.e. with a knife, fist, etc. From the readings, it is apparent to me that mandatory arrest policies are not efficacious and do not work as well as they are supposed to. And certainly there are other options, like protection orders and crisis counseling, and in some situations these may be better options.

Again, the character of the situation should determine the nature of the response from law enforcement personnel. The problem with the mandatory arrest policy is that it is a simple, one-size-fits-all answer to a problem that is complex and multi-variant, and may require a flexible range of policy options and solutions. By using a wider range of policy options and alternatives, law enforcement personnel can certainly still protect the victims of domestic abuse. In fact, a more flexible range of policy options would probably better serve the needs of the victims of domestic abuse, given the fact that not all situations are the same, and different victims may well have quite different needs.

References

Buzawa, E. Buzawa, C. and Stark, E. (2012). Responding to Domestic Violence: The Integration of Criminal Justice & Human Services (4th Edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.