Pros and Cons of Mandatory Arrest in Domestic Battery Cases

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. 

Policies supporting services for domestic violence situations

 Victims of Domestic Violence 

In this paper, I will describe the people who suffer from domestic violence. There are not just women suffering from this, men also suffer from household violence. Social work suggests that society ought to pursue a policy to strengthen relationships, assist with counseling, understand mediation, and apply restorative justice practices, as treating domestic violence primarily as a mental health issue, and only secondarily as a criminal justice issue, offers a better chance to stop this scourge. Domestic violence, as it is associated with poverty and lower educational attainment, disproportionately affects people of color and minority cultural groups. Understanding the laws related to domestic violence, and how those laws may be changing, will help us to support victims of domestic violence.  In particular, I'm interested in policies concerning domestic violence that offer cash or in-kind assistance to those who are escaping from domestic violence.

Victims of Crime Act (VOCA)

This act is to assist the victims that have suffered from crimes, it and helps them restore their lives. The grant that is provided is in the amount of 2.7 million dollars, and this provides many supports for victims throughout different states. This provides shelter support, crisis counseling, referrals, and other services. Such services may be provided by volunteers or private agencies (often non-profit), and services cannot discriminate against the victims. There are VOCA funds that will provide financial assistance and reimbursement to victims of crime. 

These funds help victims that have suffered child abuse, sexual abuse, or spousal abuse. VOCA focuses on inventions that will strengthen relationships with people that combat intimate partner violence. This is a valuable source of support for the victims and will help strengthen them in their recovery. This is provided in each State Administration Agency across the country. 

Violence against Women Act (VAWA)

This act is to support women that have or still suffering from domestic violence. This provides legal assistance, training for law enforcement, transitional housing, crisis intervention, dating violence, domestic, sexual assault, stalking. The Office of Violence Against Women (OVW) provides funding directly to the states and they are responsible for distributing the funds to each program. 

The state is responsible for providing 25% of the funds to law enforcement and prosecutors, 30% for victims, and 5% to state and local courts. This act also focuses on engaging men and boys as allies to strengthen interventions under the discretionary grant program. OVW work towards improving services to underserved populations and this is a benefit to ensure everyone can receive this assistance. 

Barth and Jiranek states, “The OVW grant solicitation enumerates various practices and procedures that jeopardize victim safety each year. The 2022 solicitation explains that "OVW does not fund activities that jeopardize victims’ safety, deter or prevent physical or emotional healing for victims, or allow offenders to escape responsibility for their actions" (FY 2022 Solicitation Companion Guide, [82], p.17) (1)”. 

 

Family Violence Prevention and Services (FVPSA) (2019)

This act supports services to victims of domestic violence and survivors throughout the United States. In 2019 this act distributed $180 million to combat IPV, $10.3 million to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, $164 million to shelters and services, and $5.5 million to support the CDC’s DELTA Impact program. This was improved by Congress in 2019 increases funding, expand support to culturally specific, and invest in prevention programs.

  This act brings information into the communities throughout the United States to assistant in prevention initiatives. The funds that are distributed assist with promoting healthy relationships, positive development, and communities. 

Barth and Jiranek state, “On March 23, 2021, Congresswomen Lucy McBath of Georgia, re-introduced a bill proposing amendments to the FVPSA. Importantly, the Bill has put forth language stressing the importance of healthy relationship building, serving as a significant potential avenue to funding”.

Additional Avenues for States to Support Relationship Strengthening Programs 

There are categories that offenders are scored on based previous domestic violence. They 

are ranked by being examined to determine the level of risk such as: suicidal/homicidal tendencies, use of weapons, obsession with victim. This is determined through evidence-based research and the assessment tool is what assigns the offenders their score. 

Barth and Jiranek states, “The DVRNA is composed of fourteen domains of risk most predictive of future violence (1)”. 

[Under additional ways states support relationships and prevent violence, I was expecting you to mention the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA). It seems that you instead are saying that many caseworkers and domestic violence interventions use the Domestic Violence Risk and Needs Assessment (DVRNA), a standardized tool where someone can rate various situations and determine the risk of violence. ]

In Conclusion 

I do support these laws: the reason is that I was a woman that suffered domestic violence. This is something that I did not know about—I had no idea that there were agencies that assisted people that suffered through domestic violence. This is a great opportunity for victims of violence to get back on their feet and restart their lives. Surviving through violence affects more than your physical well-being, it affects your mental state, as well. The bruises on the outside will heal but the internal affect is long standing. Depending on the amount abuse that you suffered, determines the amount of therapy that you may need. 

References

Barth, Richard P. and Jiranek, Harriet C. (2023). Strengthening Relationships between Couples to Respond to Domestic Violence: a Commentary on Policy Changes Needed to Support this Evolution.  Journal of Family Violence. May2023, Vol. 38 Issue 4, p761-774. 14p.

 

Student writes letter to Senator Duckworth supporting HR-1585 (VAWA)

Senator Duckworth

8 South Old State Capitol Plaza

Springfield, IL 62701

Dear Senator Duckworth,

I am writing to you today to ask for your help in getting the Violence Against Women Act HR 1585 (VAWA) reauthorized for the most recent term. This bill, which was passed by the House in April of 2019, currently sits in the Senate a year later with no progress made towards a vote. While I understand that you yourself would undoubtedly vote to pass this bill, I also believe that you have the power to reach out to your counterparts on the Republican side of the aisle and impress upon them the importance of the reauthorization of the VAWA.

As a citizen of the city of Springfield and a Community Health Worker for the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, I have worked with many men and women who have been impacted by relational violence. The programming and protections provided by the VAWA are vital in decreasing the number of those incidents and in ensuring that those who are committing the crimes are fully prosecuted. The reauthorization of this bill every four to five years has ensured that new crimes and new groups that need protection are being added to the law. I understand that this particular reauthorization may be held up by the addition of the transgendered community or by the removal of the right to purchase a handgun by someone convicted of domestic violence, but I implore you to share the bigger picture with your fellow Senators. This law has had huge impacts including a decline of 72% in the rate of serious intimate partner violence against women and a 60% decline in the annual rate of rape and sexual assault perpetrated against girls and women.

From a personal perspective, as a survivor of domestic violence, I know and understand the importance of the resources available to someone as they move through and beyond a relationship of this type. I depended greatly on some of the programming that has been created from the funds made available by the VAWA and would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for this bill and what it has helped to create.

Senator, I understand that this is not an easy sell. I am sure that the idea of limiting access to handguns under any situation is probably something that feels like a non-starter with some of your colleagues. The bill does not suggest the limiting of all guns, simply handguns which are easier to purchase and conceal, and only for those who have already demonstrated their ease with violent behavior. That limitation does not carry more weight than the physical and mental health of the men, women and children who live in our country.

I look forward to seeing this bill passed with these new additions and the protections and funding for these vital programs redistributed. I trust in your ability to get this will be happy to continue to provide my support to your upcoming campaigns.