Police Response to Domestic Violence Essay

In 2005, the Bureau of Justice Statistics string out overed that 1,181 distaffs were killed by an intimate associate. That operator everyday, 3 women atomic number 18 killed as a result of national craze. These overwhelming statistics in addition state that out of all(a) the women murdered in the United States, whiz out of three of the murders atomic number 18 the direct result of an intimate abetter _or_ abettor. home(prenominal) effect is a pattern of abusive behavior that includes whether sexual, ablaze or physi addressy, that is imposed by a fictitious characterner in an intimate human relationship. This has been a major puzzle in the United States and for decades house servant succor personnel runs to increase.We point out that domestic furiousness continues to be an epidemic on the rise. harmonize to Eve S. Buzawa and Carl G. Buzawa, reform of natural honor follow out in domestic assault cases has been a repeated theme for twenty old age (Dunham & Al bert, 2010, pg.137). Unfortunately, the traditional patrol solvent involving domestic force-out assaults unruffled seems to restrain precedent. Law enforcement maintains their reactive approach by means of subdueing discussions, screening out assures or sustaining the attitude that domestic furiousness is non a real crime.Nevertheless, the telephone number regarding the lack of presence and concern for domestic abandon dupes goes beyond the stereotypical reasons why law of nature enforcement do non take a lots proactive approach. The reasons may include personal attitudes, lack of education or unconstipated fear. However, when domestic cases involve minorities, law enforcement has been known to become suspiciously bias. Nonetheless, domestic force play is not only limited tomale and female relationships. Homosexuals atomic number 18 as well as involved in domestic violence disputes as well and guard military officers particularly avoid intervention in these cases even much than straight relationships.In this report, we ordain explore the different characteristics involving practice of law responses to domestic violence, the reasons why law enforcement hesitate in their response, and the different statistics involving intervention in heterosexual, homosexual and nonage households.Avoiding InterventionWe prepare acknowledged finished well-nigh texts and the experience of our fellow officers that practice of law work is a very mundane profession. The high airheadeds we visualize on boob tube shows are mostly for entertainment purposes. In reality, police work consists of domestic violence interventions, which also includes cases of medicate guy. Unfortunately, police interventions in domestic violence cases ease lack a proactive response.Although today national emphasis intervention unchanging needs to be revised in making calls of service much productive, it was not until the early 1970s when making an checkout for fel onies without a warrant were not legal (Doak, 2010, pg. 150). exactly fourteen of those states allowed the same communications protocol for misdemeanours and since assault and outpouring is a misdemeanor, victims were forced to earn their own savage charges, which resulted in lack of arrests and lack of making a report (Doak, 2010, pg. 150). Fortunately since 2006, new legislature has accredited warrant less prob qualified cause for misdemeanor arrests in all states concerning domestic violence cases (Doak, 2010, pg. 150) only law enforcement continues to show a lack of intensity in making arrests.According to authors, Roger G. Dunham and Geoffrey P. Albert, there are several reasons concerning the reluctance to respond to domestic violence calls. The common cut backs that involve law enforcements lack of intervention include Organizational impediments, lack of training, fear of dishonor and most most-valuablely police attitudes. home(prenominal) violence is misdemeanor, so in result police officers outweart think of this assault as a real crime. They avoid making arrest as to conclude that domestic violence is a dotty of time. Its common for police response to a domestic violence situation to lack zeal or prolong making an appearance at all.However, fear is also an imperative reason that causes law enforcement to hesitate in the amour of domestic violence cases. Until recently, police officers werent aware of the proper protocol in handling domestic violence cases. Also, in many cases the victim so-and-so also let go of out to be the aggressor when an officer attempts to denounce an arrest. This can be a convincing check in lack of police response. The most important reason I would like to discuss is police attitudes towards domestic violence cases and victims. The reasons I mention preceding(prenominal) are all characteristics that contri howevere to the lack of involvement however the individual attitude of the officer places much empha sis on their actions.Victim StatisticsApproximately 1.3 gazillion women are physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually in the United States. In a 19951996 study conducted through the fifty states including the District of Columbia, it was open that nearly 25% of women were raped and/or physically assaulted by a current or originator spouse, cohabiting partner, or dating/acquaintance at some time in their liveliness (American Bar Association, 2010). According to the U.S. Department of Justice, between 1998 and 2002, of the almost 3.5 million crimes perpet appreciate against family members, almost half of these were crimes against spouses. Eighty-four of those spouse abuse victims were females. In 2001, intimate partner violence make up 20% of all nonfatal fierce crime experience by women. In 2000, 1,247 women were killed by their intimate partner (American Bar Association, 2010).Two years ago my best friend was a part of these overwhelming statistics. For nearly three years she gear up herself in a very abusive relationship with her then boyfriend who is now the father of her three-year-old child. The previous(a) night calls I received kept me on edge because I just continued to fear when I was going to get that fatal call that my best friend was dead. There were numerous attempts of ladder but like most of these women, love can sometimes be a curse. Fortunately, my friend was able to break away from her abuser. Unfortunately, turning to the statistics I mentioned above, all are not so lucky.Although going through that experience with my best friend was one of the hardest things in my life, knowing that there were numerous attempts to seek help from law enforcement to only be ignored arouse me more. As I discussed before, police officers are not concerned with victims of domestic violence. At least thats what many victims say including my best friend. Victims are not taken seriously because the misdemeanor crime is not taken seriously. Rega rdless of your race, being a victim of an intimate partner relationship continues to get the O.K. seat. Studies have shown that certain characteristics do play a prodigious part of how a police officer forget act to an individual call for service. In cases of domestic violence police attitudes towards women, different races, and even sexual preference has played a small part between making arrests and telling an abuser to just take a walk and unruffled off.Victim CharacteristicsOne in three women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime said Kathy Doherty, an executive director of an association named among Friends (Chaney, K., 2008). It is very disturbing to be aware of these statistics and still lack the support from law enforcement to take the matters seriously. Its even more unsettling to know that your race will play a significant role in how a police officer will case his/her own discretion.In studies I have read, theorists rely that when we evaluate the relat ionship between domestic violence victims and police response, institutional racism becomes a end point widely used to define the relationship. According to the Macpherson calculates definitionInstitutional racialism consists of the corporate failure of an organization to provide an appropriate and sea captain service to the great unwashed because of their color, culture or ethnic origin. It can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behavior which amount to discrimination through unknowing prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness, and racist stereotyping which disadvantage minority ethnic people (Belur, J., 2008, pg. 428).According to Amanda L. Robinson and Megham S. Chandek, authors of Differential Police Response to melanize Battered Women, stated not only are moody women . . . handicapped on account of their sex, but they are almost everywhere baffled and mocked because of their race. non only because they are women, but because they are colored women (Chandek, M. S., & Robinson, A. L., (2000), pg. 30). Institutionalized racism is the very plague that has make police responses to domestic violence calls for service ineffective. nonage ethic women have not been treated moderately involving many accounts including sexism and racism. Today, gender and ethnic backgrounds are reasons for their complaints to be handled differently. According to reports made by the interior(a) Crime Victimization Survey and the FBI (homicide reports), Black females experience domestic violence at a rate 35% higher than that of white females, and about 22 times the rate of women of other races (Newton, C.J. 2009).Minority Women are not the only class that suffers from discrimination when evaluating proactive police response. The LGBT community has also been a victim of sexism when seeking assistance from law enforcement in domestic violence cases. Take this example from the article, Stonewalled Police execration and Misconduct Against Lesbian, Gay and Transgende r People in the U.S.A gay Filipino man was reportedly vanquish on several occasions by his partner, a white U.S. citizen, who was reportedly addicted to drugs and alcohol. When police responded to one altercation, they reportedly arrested the Filipino man and threatened to report him to immigration authorities, saying Youre not a citizen. We should deport you, you shouldnt be hitting Americans youre not an American. The Filipino man was sentenced to 52 weeks of batterers intervention in court (Amnesty International USA, 2010)This display case of injustice is unacceptable especially in a place where our Victims Rights and Human Rights are supposed to nurse us. Ethnic backgrounds, gender or sex should never play a significant role in how a police officer addresses a call for service in a domestic violence case or any case. Institutional Racism must be abolished from our practices of handling violent victims cases regardless of certain characteristics of the victim.Changes for Refor mLuckily, we as a nation have come forrad to not only address the problems involving police response in domestic violence cases but to also promote a solution. There have been committees and accessible groups, such as Battered Women Advocates, who have helped to spread the awareness of domestic violence. Also the Minneapolis domestic vehemence experiment (1981-1982) has also played a significant part in finding a uttermost more effective way to deter emerging violence than merely separation of the parties or officer mediation (Dunham R. G. & Albert, G. P, (2010), pg. 147).Although assaults and batteries are misdemeanors, provoking public use up in the issue can place measureless pressures on our criminal justice system. Law enforcement agencies have developed plans and in-service trainings to make officers responding to domestic violence cases more comfortable and aware of their options. Training also leads to a decrease of fear of injury when approaching volatilisable situ ations. The most prominent federal response happened in 1994, when the Violence Against Women Act was passed to help the fight to occlusion violence against women.ConclusionLaw enforcement plays a vital role in our criminal justice system. Although police officers are just regular citizens in uniform, we still hold them to a higher standard compared to the customary public. We must understand that this country as a hold must work together to wind up violence against women (or men) and the assistance of the numerous law enforcement agencies is more than needed. This report was designed to shine a light on the many issues surrounding calls for service in domestic violence cases. Its not to elicit that all police officers are racist, sexist or homo-phobic. However, we must stay on top of the issue to better achieve in the success of fish filet institutional racist attitudes. It will always spring with that individual who is behind the uniform that is responding to a call. To con tinue to generate discussion will only make the issue of domestic violence involving police interaction an issue of the past.ReferencesAmerican Bar Association. (2010). Commission of DomesticViolence. Retrieved whitethorn 16, 2010, from http//new.abanet.org/domesticviolence/Pages/Statistics.aspxAmnesty International USA. (2010). Stonewalled Police sophisticate andMisconduct Against Lesbian, Gay and Transgender People in the U.S. Retrieved May 16, 2010, from http//www.amnestyusa.org/lgbt-human-rights/stonewalled-a-report/police-response/page.do?id=1106617Belur, Jyoti. (2008). Is policing domestic violenceinstitutionally racist? A case study of south Asian Women. Policing and Society, meretriciousness 18, Issue 4, pg. 426-444.Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2009). Prison Statistics.Retrieved October 27, 2009, fromhttp//www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/prisons.htmChaney, K. (2008). Domestic Violence hits Black Women Harder.Chicago Defender Online.Doak, M.J. (2007). Domestic Violence, Law Enforc ement, and CourtResponses to Domestic Violence. Child aversion and Domestic Violence, 147-165.Dunham, R. G., & Albert, G. P. (2010). Critical Issues inPolicing. Illinois. Waveland Press.Newton, C, J. (2009). Domestic Violence An Overview. RetrievedMay 16, 2010, from http//www.findcounseling.com/journal/domestic-violence/domestic-violence-statistics.htmlRobinson, A. L., & Chandek, M. S. (2000). Differential Police