Policing Intimate Partner Violence: Then and Now

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Policing Intimate Partner Violence Then and Now

• Dr. Michelle L. Meloy

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Overview of Legal Change

• Historical Message IPV was only viewed as a
  crime under extreme circumstances
• New wave of domestic violence laws and practices
  Protection from Abuse Acts, Mediation techniques
  by Police, Arrest laws change, Restraining
  Orders, Anti-Stalking Laws created, federal
  legislation created
• New Message Violence among family and dating
  persons is a crime

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Todays IPV Laws Impacted By

• Feminist movement
• Victims rights movement
• Law and Order movement
• Ineffectiveness of existing policies
• Civil liability
• Social science research

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Early shifts in police response

• Specialized family units appeared in many cities
  in the early 1970s
• Mediation tactics were practiced by law
  enforcement
• Referrals mediation prioritized over arrest
• IPV was viewed as a family systems issue
• Efficacy conclusions could not be reached
• By the 1980s IPV was viewed as a serious social
  problem requiring legal action

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Sherman Berks Minneapolis Experiment

• Controlled design
• 3 options available to the officer when
  responding to a dv call
• A) Arrest with _at_ least one night incarceration
• B) Sending the offender away from the scene to
  cool off
• C) Mediation with the couple

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Minneapolis Experiment

• 24 week follow-up
• 314 cases reviewed
• Recidivism measured by new arrests for dv OR
  reports from victims that additional violence was
  present
• Final analysis revealed that arrest produced the
  lowest re-offending (10)
• 19 of the mediation subjects recidivated
• 24 of the cooling off subjects reoffended

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Minneapolis Experiment

• Final Report concluded three things
• A) Laws should be revised to allow for easier
  arrests in misdemeanor cases
• B) Mandatory arrest was the preferred response
• C) Further studies be conducted to substantiate
  findings
• Within 5 years, 84 of all major police
  departments adopted proarrest policies

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Unintended consequences of mandatory arrest

• Many officers still circumvent the policies do
  not follow the guidelines
• Arrest decisions may discriminate against some
• poor defendants and defendants of color are more
  likely to be arrested
• Victims of color are less likely to have their
  abuser arrested
• Disempowerment of victims many victims do not
  want an arrest as their first option

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Unintended consequences of mandatory arrest

• Victims may be reluctant to notify authorities,
  especially victims of color
• Dual arrests increase more victims being
  arrested?
• Victims of color are at greater risk than white
  victims of having their children taken from them
  financial consequences for the family are often
  more devastating
• Do abusers and families become more violent?

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Effectiveness of Arrest?

• Replication studies produced mixed results
• Offender/victim demographics (race, class,
  employment status, prior criminal history)
  interact differently with an arrest response
• A one-size-fits-all police response to dv does
  not achieve desired outcomes. Would pro-arrest
  policies be a better alternative?
• Reconsider how we measure effectiveness. What
  has happened to intimate homicide rates since
  these laws were passed?

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Dark figure of IPV Victims role

• Severely underreported 10 to 50 of cases
  reported. Why?
• Recognition that the act is abusive illegal
• Internalization of blame social norms
• Belief that that IPV is a private matter
  Victim-offender relationship
• Victims may want an informal resolution
• Wealthier victims have other escape options
• Fear of repercussions by abuser
• Victims may suffer from PTSD

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Dark figure of IPV Police role

• Call screening protocol of police departments
• Police officers do not like responding to IPV
  calls perceived as private matter not as crime
  fighter role
• Officer perceptions of danger
• Organizational disincentives to IPV calls
• Structural barriers to enforcement

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Are Policing Changes to IPV in Name Only?

• Some argue shifts are more symbolic than real
• Studies show that police are still reluctant to
  handle dv cases as seriously as other crimes of
  violence
• Several factors have been cited as explanations
  police screening procedures, financial hardship
  of an arrest, belief that it is a family
  matter, victims may not want an arrest,
  perceived danger inherent to these calls