Police Response to Domestic Violence Essay

In 2005, the Bureau of evaluator Statistics announceed that 1,181 fe antherals were killed by an intimate furnish. That means e trulyday, 3 women are killed as a solution of domestic vehemence. These overwhelming statistics also state that reveal of all the women remove in the joined States, ane out of deuce-ace of the murders are the transfer result of an intimate better half. municipal military unit is a pattern of shameful sort that includes whether sexual, emotional or physically, that is imposed by a accomplice in an intimate relationship. This has been a major problem in the United States and for decades domestic force continues to increase.We ack outrightledge that domestic violence continues to be an epizootic on the rise. fit in to Eve S. Buzawa and Carl G. Buzawa, reform of police force action in domestic round down brasss has been a recurrent theme for twenty long time (Dunham & Albert, 2010, pg.137). Unfortunately, the traditional police retort in volving domestic violence assaults unagitated seems to pledge precedent. Law enforcement maintains their reactive approach by means of avoiding preventatives, screening out calls or sustaining the attitude that domestic violence is non a authentic crime.Nevertheless, the issue regarding the miss of presence and concern for domestic violence victims goes beyond the stereotypical reasons why law enforcement do not apply a more(prenominal) proactive approach. The reasons may include personal attitudes, pretermit of dressing or nonetheless guardianship. However, when domestic shifts pack minorities, law enforcement has been known to exit suspiciously bias. Nonetheless, domestic violence is not save limited tomale and female relationships. Homosexuals are also involved in domestic violence disputes as well and military officers particularly avoid discourse in these cases even more than heterosexual relationships.In this report, we result explore the different characte ristics involving police responses to domestic violence, the reasons why law enforcement hesitate in their response, and the different statistics involving intervention in heterosexual, homosexual and minority households.Avoiding InterventionWe have acknowledged by dint of many texts and the experience of our fellow officers that police work is a very mundane profession. The highlights we visualize on television shows are mostly for pastime purposes. In reality, police work consists of domestic violence interventions, which also includes cases of do drugs abuse. Unfortunately, police interventions in domestic violence cases still lack a proactive response.Although today Domestic Violence intervention still unavoidably to be revised in making calls of service more productive, it was not until the early 1970s when making an arrest for felonies without a warrant were not legal (Doak, 2010, pg. 150). Only fourteen of those states allowed the same communications protocol for misdemea nors and since assault and electric battery is a misdemeanor, victims were forced to make their own iniquitous charges, which resulted in lack of arrests and lack of making a report (Doak, 2010, pg. 150). Fortunately since 2006, new legislative body has authorized warrant less probable cause for misdemeanor arrests in all states concerning domestic violence cases (Doak, 2010, pg. 150) only law enforcement continues to show a lack of enthusiasm in making arrests.According to authors, Roger G. Dunham and Geoffrey P. Albert, on that point are several reasons concerning the reluctance to respond to domestic violence calls. The prevalent issues that involve law enforcements lack of intervention include Organizational impediments, lack of training, dismay of injury and most importantly police attitudes. Domestic violence is misdemeanor, so in result police officers dont think of this assault as a real crime. They avoid making arrest as to conclude that domestic violence is a waste o f time. Its common for police response to a domestic violence situation to lack enthusiasm or prolong making an appearance at all.However, veneration is also an imperative reason that causes law enforcement to hesitate in the interestingness of domestic violence cases. Until recently, police officers werent aware of the proper protocol in discourse domestic violence cases. too, in many cases the victim can also turn out to be the aggressor when an officer attempts to make an arrest. This can be a convincing deterrent in lack of police response. The most important reason I would care to discuss is police attitudes towards domestic violence cases and victims. The reasons I mention higher up are all characteristics that contribute to the lack of involvement however the idiosyncratic attitude of the officer places much emphasis on their actions.Victim Statistics rough 1.3 million women are physically assaulted by an intimate render per year in the United States. In a 19951996 s tudy conducted through the cubic decimetre states including the District of Columbia, it was found that nearly 25% of women were raped and/or physically assaulted by a current or former spouse, cohabiting partner, or go out/acquaintance at some time in their lifetime (American measuring stick Association, 2010). According to the U.S. Department of Justice, between 1998 and 2002, of the some 3.5 million crimes committed 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 made up 20% of all nonfatal red-faced crime experience by women. In 2000, 1,247 women were killed by their intimate partner (American Bar Association, 2010).Two years ago my surmount friend was a part of these overwhelming statistics. For nearly three years she found herself in a very abusive relationship with her then boyfriend who is now the father of her three-year-old child. The late night calls I received kept me on edge because I just continued to worry when I was red to get that fatal call that my best friend was dead. There were legion(predicate) attempts of escape but like most of these women, love can sometimes be a curse. Fortunately, my friend was able to break away from her abuser. Unfortunately, tour 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 handle angered me more. As I discussed before, police officers are not interested 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. Regardless of your race, being a victim of an intimate partner relationship continues to get the back seat. Studies have shown that certain characteristics do profligacy a solid part of how a police officer leave alone act to an separate call for service. In cases of domestic violence police attitudes towards women, different races, and even sexual preference has played a expand part between making arrests and telling an abuser to just take a walk and cool off.Victim CharacteristicsOne in three women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime say Kathy Doherty, an executive director of an association named Between 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 exercise his/her own discretion.In studies I have read, theorists believe that when we evaluate the relationship between domestic violence victims and police response, institutional racism becomes a term widely used to define the relationship. Accordin g to the Macpherson fibs definitionInstitutional Racism consists of the collective failure of an boldness to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their color, culture or ethnic origin. It can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behavior which amount to discrimination through unwitting 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 natural law Response to slow Battered Women, stated not only are colored women . . . invalid on account of their sex, but they are almost everywhere disjointed and mocked because of their race. Not only because they are women, but because they are colored women (Chandek, M. S., & Robinson, A. L., (2000), pg. 30). institutionalise racism is the very plague that has made police responses to domestic violence calls for service in utile. Minority et hic women have not been treated fair 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 National Crime Victimization Survey and the FBI (homicide reports), glowering females experienced domestic violence at a rate 35% higher than that of white females, and about 22 times the rate of women of opposite 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 supporter from law enforcement in domestic violence cases. Take this example from the article, Stonewalled patrol Abuse and Misconduct Against Lesbian, Gay and Transgender People in the U.S.A human being Filipino man was reportedly beaten on several make by his partner, a white U.S. citizen, who was reportedly addicted to drugs and alcohol. When pol ice responded to one altercation, they reportedly arrested the Filipino man and threatened to report him to immigration authorities, express Youre not a citizen. We should deport you, you shouldnt be smasher Americans youre not an American. The Filipino man was sentenced to 52 weeks of batterers intervention in court ( acquittal International USA, 2010)This type of in rightness is unacceptable in particular in a place where our Victims Rights and Human Rights are supposed to entertain 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 ReformLuckily, we as a nation have come forward to not only address the problems involving police response in domestic violence cases but to also promote a solution. There have b een committees and social groups, much(prenominal) as Battered Women Advocates, who have helped to spread the awareness of domestic violence. Also the Minneapolis Domestic Violence experiment (1981-1982) has also played a significant part in finding a far more effective way to deter future 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 interest in the issue can place unlimited 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 volatile situations. The most prominent federal response happened in 1994, when the Violence Against Women Act was passed to help the fight to stop violence against women.ConclusionLaw enforcement pl ays 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 general public. We must visualize that this country as a hold must work in concert to stop 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 border calls for service in domestic violence cases. Its not to rede that all police officers are racist, sexist or homo-phobic. However, we must gentle on top of the issue to better achieve in the mastery of stopping institutional racist attitudes. It will always start with that individual who is behind the uniform that is responding to a call. To continue 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. Ret rieved May 16, 2010, from http//new.abanet.org/domesticviolence/Pages/Statistics.aspxAmnesty International USA. (2010). Stonewalled Police Abuse 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, Volume 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 Enforcement, and CourtResponses to Domestic Violence. Child Abuse and Domestic Violence, 147-165.Dunham, R. G., & Albert, G. P. (2010). deprecative Issues inPolicing. Illinois. Waveland Press.Newton, C, J. (2009). Domestic Violence An O verview. RetrievedMay 16, 2010, from http//www.findcounseling.com/journal/domestic-violence/domestic-violence-statistics.htmlRobinson, A. L., & Chandek, M. S. (2000). Differential Police