Coordinated Community Responses to Domestic Violence in Six Communities: Beyond the Justice System. Laws and Policies In Theory and In Practice

In many of the communities, people credited certain laws and policies with improving the community response to domestic violence. However, there are also laws and polices which continue to hinder efforts to protect battered women and punish batterers. People stressed that while the laws and policies were important, they are only as good as those who enforce them and carry them out. In general, all of these sites are moving closer to pro-active arrest and prosecution policies. Whereas in the past there was more discretion in whether to arrest offenders or prosecute these cases, many jurisdictions are strengthening and standardizing the response by eliminating this discretion.

• Arrest and Prosecution Policies

  • Most of the jurisdictions we visited had a mandatory or preferred arrest policy for domestic violence. These policies require police officers to arrest a perpetrator under certain conditions. In Minnesota, for example, state law gives localities the option of adopting a mandatory arrest policy. State law also established standards for "probable cause" arrests. Prior tothese laws, domestic violence offenses were handled as misdemeanors--requiring a citizen's arrest which placed the burden on the victim, or as felonies--requiring that the arresting officer be present at the assault itself and that the assault be severe enough to warrant a felony charge. In a number of jurisdictions, misdemeanors require a citizen's arrest unless a police officer witnesses the crime. Thus, allowing police to arrest on probable cause has greatly improved the law enforcement response.

    The level of charges in domestic violence cases varied across the sites. In California, for example, the statute is more harsh for domestic violence than for other types of assaults. Domestic violence assaults are felonies by virtue of being committed against an intimate partner, as opposed to other assaults which are misdemeanors. Recently, California further strengthened its law to include same sex couples in the domestic violence felony assault law. This is especially helpful in San Francisco where there is a large number of gay and lesbian couples. Prior to this change, the victim in a same sex domestic violence case would have to make a citizen's arrest. In Kansas City, on the other hand, most domestic violence cases are a violation of a city ordinance and prosecuted in Municipal Court. Recently, however, there has been a push to increase the number of domestic violence cases charged as misdemeanors or felonies.

    Many prosecutors in this study have adopted pro-prosecution or "victimless" prosecution policies. In these cases, the prosecution will proceed with a case if there is sufficient evidence, regardless of whether or not the victim cooperates. Typically, decisions about whether to prosecute without the victim's cooperation are made an a case-by-case basis. Because investigations of domestic violence cases have improved, prosecutors are more likely now to have sufficient evidence for the case even if the victim is unwilling to testify. Prosecutors often work closely with the victim to try to convince her to cooperate. A number of prosecutors will subpoena a reluctant victim and some will even issue a body attachment (i.e., warrant for her arrest).

• Other Laws and Policies

  • Protection orders are an important part of the response to domestic violence in many communities. However, there were some key differences across the sites. In Missouri the statute is fairly broad and allows judges to address a number of issues including custody and child support as part of the order. A number of people viewed protection orders as a valuable tool in Kansas City. Protection orders were a weaker part of Baltimore's response, since they are restricted to people who are currently married, or who have lived together for 90 days over the past year, or who are related by blood, or who have a child in common. Thus, many intimate partners do not qualify for a protection order in Baltimore.

    In recent years, there has been a push to increase the identification and reporting of domestic violence by health care providers. Some states have implemented mandatory reporting laws which require health care providers to report domestic violence cases. However, mandatory reporting laws make no difference unless agencies are able and willing to identify domestic violence. Other health care providers have adopted screening policies, even though they are not required to do so by state law. Issues raised by routinizing screening for domestic violence in health care agencies are discussed in Chapter 6. The health care response has also been influenced by broader policies in the health care system. For example, in Baltimore one person felt that the shift to HMOs for Medicaid clients adversely affected mental health services for battered women. This was reported to be an issue in San Francisco as well, where the move to managed care has restricted access to mental health services.