DOMESTIC ABUSE AND POLICE POWER

Domestic Abuse and Police Power

Domestic Abuse and Police Power

Introduction

Domestic violence has only recently been treated as a matter for the police. Traditionally police officers saw such violence as a private matter, but policy has changed and authorities are attempting to change the attitude of police officers so that they see domestic violence as a crime.

Domestic Abuse

Domestic Abuse is a non-specific statutory offence; the term is used to describe a range of criminal offences and sub-criminal behaviour. Domestic Abuse occurs regardless of a victim's class, religion, sexual orientation or ethnicity and is experienced by both men and women, although the majority of violent and repetitive assaults are perpetrated by men against their female partners. Domestic Abuse is an abuse of power and control; the process of repeat intimidation, violence and abuse results in vulnerability. For this reason and because of the magnitude of harm which can result from a domestic Abuse related incident, it is essential that the police take positive action to protect the victim and any children from further harm and hold perpetrators accountable for their behaviour.  

Police Power and Domestic Abuse

Police power describes the basic right of governments to make laws and regulations for the benefit of their communities. Under the system of government in the United States, only states have the right to make laws based on their police power. The lawmaking power of the federal government is limited to the specific grants of power found in the Constitution. The right of states to make laws governing safety, health, welfare, and morals is derived from the Tenth Amendment, which states, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." State legislatures exercise their police power by enacting statutes, and they also delegate much of their police power to counties, cities, towns, villages, and large boroughs within the state.

It is essential that officers take positive action to protect the victim and any children from further harm. For full details of police powers to deal with domestic abuse, which are extensive, please refer to 'Police Powers'. Very often domestic abuse incidents result in criminal offences. It is important that they are dealt with accordingly and not minimised because they occur in a domestic context. There is a need to fully record and preserve evidence and to carry out a thorough investigation taking into account the views of the victim. The fact that an initial complaint may not subsequently be pursued is irrelevant. It will not affect the action taken or the manner in which the victim is dealt with. As such officers are required to record reasons for not arresting suspects, where a power of arrests exists, in their pocket notebooks and on the Crime and Information System (CIS) - for crimes and non-crimes. Simply recording no complaint will not be accepted as justification in isolation. Supervisors are responsible for enforcing this element of the procedure. Officers should of course be aware when considering arrests, that only reasonable suspicion is ...