Police Response to Domestic Violence - Essay Example

By using discretion to avoid making arrests in some cases, the police are perceived to be declining to offer “necessary assistance to the victims of the violence” (Hendricks and Byers, 37). The police policy geared at delaying response with intention that the “domestic violence would resolve itself” has in some cases been worsening the situation instead of helping it (Hendricks and Byers, 39). Hendricks and Byers assert that the police are normally trained to rely more on crisis intervention, mediations and separations of parties involved in the violence, counseling for substance abuse cases, and let the victims carry the burden of arrest.

Practically, this kind of training has made it very difficult for these victims especially the poor ones to seek justice against the sufferings they undergo during the violence (102). Police officers prefer not to respond to domestic violence calls following the organizational disincentives. For instance, the officers perceive the violence to be dangerous. “Statutory restrictions on misdemeanor” have prevented the police from doing anything worthwhile (Hendricks and Byers, 112). The cases in which the victims fail to follow through with prosecution have also demoralized the officers from responding to the violence as required of them.

There also have been cases in which the police are accused of being biased while making arrests on the “offenders of the domestic violence” (Hendricks and Byers, 113). There have been several reforms that have been enacted to improve the “police response to domestic violence” (Hendricks and Byers, 115). The reforms were pushed through due to mounting pressure from the women’s rights groups and battered women’s advocates. Implementation of pro-arrest policies such as Domestic Violence Act has been instrumental in ensuring “warrantless arrest” in cases perceived to have probable cause of violation of a protection order (Hendricks and Byers, 118).

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