In 1986 The Illinois Domestic Violence Act (IDVA) passed. It contains a provision for when arrests are necessary in domestic cases. Illinois is considered a “may arrest” state. Arrests are not always mandatory. As part of the implementation of the law, the Illinois Family Violence Coordinating Councils were established in counties across the state and charged with overseeing local implementation of the IDVA. These implementation points included training of local law enforcement officers, readiness of emergency responders, community mental health professionals, and judges and prosecuting attorneys. Law enforcement officers should receive training on arrest protocols.
In Illinois, officers are required to make arrests in cases involving physical injury or the use of a deadly weapon. They are not required to make arrests in all instances. The relative vagueness and discretion given to law enforcement means that arrest policies are not consistent. One officer may consider an injury inconsequential; another may arrest when any injury is present. Pros and cons around the issue of mandatory arrest are many and varied and debated around this issue continues.
Mandatory arrests disproportionately impact undocumented people and low-income people. Undocumented people, especially now, are at great risk of deportation if arrested at all. Because of mandatory arrest laws, victims may be afraid to call for fear that they or their partner will be deported due to immigration status. An abuser being deported could keep a victim safe, but it could also put the family under great financial burden.
Low-income people are more likely to be arrested for domestic violence because they tend to live in closer proximity to neighbors who might call if they hear a disturbance next door. Financial abuse is often part of the cycle of violence and the abuser may be the only or primary breadwinner. If on top of that the abuser is also working at a low-income job or hourly wage job, they would be at risk of losing that job while in jail. At any rate, if they are not salaried, they would not be receiving income while incarcerated.
Mandatory arrest policies can also lead to duel arrests wherein the victim and abuser are both arrested when the police respond to a domestic violence call. The police sometimes encounter victims who are angry, yelling, and unclear. Abusers can often appear calm. This leaves police officers confused and frustrated and in some cases they just arrest everyone because they have to arrest someone.
Without domestic violence laws and mandatory arrest provisions, men who battered their wives were much more likely to be asked by police to “take a walk around the block” rather than face any legal consequences. This can leave victims in unsafe situations where a partner is very angry the police were called, blames the victim for the call, and retaliates with greater violence. In many cases mandatory arrests make victims safer. It shows abusers that domestic violence is taken seriously and has consequences. The abuser does not have immediate access to the victim. Arrests can also lead to more abusers being mandated to partner abuse intervention programs. These programs can help abusers learn to make other choices.
Without mandatory arrest policies, abusers are not as likely to be held accountable. However, there are many downsides to mandatory arrests. It is clear why this issue has remained controversial. Better training for law enforcement could lessen some of the problems mandatory arrests cause. Understanding that if an abuser seems calm, he may still be very dangerous is of key importance.
I believe that the scholars and experts who lead the Grand Challenge to Build Healthy Relationships to End Violence (one of the Grand Challenges of Social Work) recommend that we should consider domestic violence as a mental health or behavioral health problem, and solutions should be framed as mental health interventions more than criminal justice interventions. Just ignoring domestic violence and letting an abuser get away with it is bad, but also your paper shows many of the drawbacks associated with treating domestic violence as a criminal justice issue. That said, domestic violence can certainly meet the definitions of felony assault or battery. And, I wonder if the crisis sparked by an arrest might help prepare an abuser for a behavioral health intervention that would end the abuse.
This is a difficult issue, and your paper has done a fine job of briefly identifying some of the issues and perspectives we might have concerning mandatory arrest.
I have forgotten how common domestic violence is. I am not well-read in the gender-based violence literature.
I would recommend consulting the policy recommendations of the Grand Challenge to Build Healthy Relationships to End Violence.
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