Noted that this is an international board, and the answers will vary depending on the local jurisdiction - and that’s fine - The scenario happened in the UK, but I’m actually interested in more than one factual answer.
The scenario (based on an real life situation I watched on some tragic TV FOTW docu):
A call is placed to 999/911/112 by a woman, claiming she is being beaten by her partner, there are sounds of angry male shouting and eventually, the call is cut off, but not before name and location is captured.
Police officers respond with an emergency visit and find the woman bruised and bleeding with a broken nose, cut lip, etc; the man has fled, but is tracked down and detained.
The woman confirms that the man, her partner, beat her and has done so before, although never so severely as this.
When asked if she wishes to press charges (and this is the nub of the question), she says “No, I expect all women get this from their partners. I mean, all women get beaten a little bit by their husbands, don’t they?”
The police officers present did not render (what seems to me) the obvious, factual answer “No - they don’t, or shouldn’t - actually, this is not normal or acceptable behaviour”.
Is it that such an answer would be an expression of opinion (regardless if factually based)?
Is it that the proper consequence of such a statement could lead to the dissolution of the relationship between the woman and the man? (They had a young child)
Should, in fact, the officers have said “No, this is not normal or acceptable” ?
I am neither a cop nor a lawyer. However, given that “No, this is not normal or acceptable,” is a statement of fact in the case of “normal” and public policy (in my US state) in the case of “acceptable” it seems clear that the responding officers should have responded so. The presence of a young child makes it more desirable that the relationship be dissolved, not less.
Personally I think domestic violence is unacceptable.
However my views do not necessarily coincide with reality
I do know that in the UK the police loathe ‘domestics’
Personally (and I’m no policeman) I know of cases where the female instigates the violence. It is quite shattering to find that an old friend is a ‘battered husband’.
I can think of a couple of cases when husbands have been imprisoned for supposed offences - and the women have subsequently withdrawn their charges. And in my view even a half wit would have seen that there was no case to answer.
Things are not what they ought to be - but it is wise to keep an eye on reality, rather than pretend people are perfect.
Long exposure to ‘reality’ tends to breed cynicism
my view is that UK police are pretty cynical
One thing to remember is that an average male could kill a girl with few problems, so if there is a ‘He said, she said’ and no major injury, then something funny is going on …
In some jurisdictions (certainly NZ, and I think many forces in the UK) the woman would not be asked if she wanted to press charges - the partner would be arrested if the officers believe they have sufficient cause and charges would be placed if the CPS believe they have sufficient evidence with or without the co-operation of the victim.
The suspect may be bailed with an exclusion order, and the victim will be contacted by a specific police team.
Considering that for a time lots of police cars were driving around with those “there’s no excuse for domestic violence” bumper stickers I think it’s fair to say that most police agencies (in the US anyways) would agree that it is not acceptable under any circumstance and would have no issue with their officers saying as much.
Also, many US states now allow prosecution of domestic violence cases even if the victim doesn’t want to press charges, so I don’t know if that would substantially change the premise of your question.
In Germany, most offences are prosecuted “out of public interest”. Unless it’s a very minor assault or libel charge, you don’t have the choice not to press charges. (A bar fight between two equally fit people could end with a handshake, no harm done, but a situation where a physically weaker person is beaten to within an inch of her life will be prosecuted no matter what, as I believe it should.)
In most US jurisidictions, the decision about whether to press domestic violence charges is entirely up to the officer. Just because a victim is too afraid or unwilling to press charges does not mean that a crime has not occurred. Typically, if there is physical evidence of assault, there will be handcuffs applied.
In WV, it says right on a marriage license that there is never an excuse for domestic violence. At least here, every single cop would tell her that it is not normal or acceptable and is a crime. They also would not be asking if she would like to press charges. If there is evidence of a domestic violence, one or both parties is going to jail.
In Cayman (which uses UK law) there generally will be no prosecution without a cooperating complainant.
Officers can, and should, refer the victim in the OP’s scenario to suitable social welfare agencies, both governmental and NGO. The local crisis centre staff or the staff of the government’s Family Resource Centre are better able to assist in teaching about what is normal in a healthy relationship. Cops are not social workers.
I’m not sure exactly what the OP is asking. Do you think the police should act as marriage counselors? The police can not solve long range relationship issues. They are there to take care of the immediate problem. The incident that night. I always attempt to get the victim to look at if there is a pattern of behavior and to ask the hard questions of themselves they may be avoiding. There is not much I can do about their relationship. But telling the victim that violence should not be tolerated is a logical thing to say.
There is plenty I can do that night for that incident. Much of it is required by law. If there are signs of injury an arrest is mandatory. Depending on the circumstances it could be a release on summons or a warrant with bail. The victim must be given the chance to apply for a restraining order. The victim can not be compelled to apply. The victim is given the chance to talk to a domestic violence counselor free of charge that night. The victim is given information on many advocacy groups and counseling opportunities. The victim is given a copy of their rights under the domestic violence statute.
Domestic violence is a complex situation. I recall that in the 70’s(?) a Toronto police officer was killed when the wife jumped one of the police as they were arresting her husband for beating her. She pulled the cop’s gun and shot him (the policeman) to try and stop the arrest, even though her husband had been beating her.
This is the problem. The complexity of the relationship, the emotional baggage, means women will often refuse to press charges - or the guy will claim he’s sorry (maybe he is) and promise not to do it again (until the next time); or threaten; or the woman will realize the problems with the disappearing mealticket.
I suppose the problem is that until a while ago this was an embarrassing problem, often swept under the rug. Police did not like the situation because it was a revolving door and often the wife, out of fear or misguided love, refused to press charges. I think the turning point in Canada was when a member of parliament tried to discuss the issue and many of the male MP’s laughed. The outcry meant that something finally got done.
In many jurisdictions in Canada (and the USA?) they have a zero tolerance policy for the last decade or two. If there is any evidence or assertion of violence, arrests and charges follow. Charges are not dropped, and sometimes even the victim is threatened with jail if she refuses to testify. This is open to some abuse, clever spouses retaliate with “she hit me too” and both are charged.
So short answer - today it’s zero tolerance and an automatic arrest if either spouse shows evidence or asserts violence occurred.
(I like to point out - the person in your life that could be almost as in your face and annoying a relationship as a spouse would be your boss. Yet very very few people punch out their boss, even once? Why? Because if you do, you know you’re going to jail; whereas beating your wife until recently did not result in charges or jail. When people are well aware of the consequences, they manage to curb those “uncontrollable” emotional outbursts.)
I don’t believe that’s why. There’s a good chance the officer has been on several domestic abuse calls where the battered individual makes excuses for their abuser’s behavior. The officer might not bother to explain that this isn’t normal behavior because he’s burned out and doesn’t think explaining will help.
Mangetout for a good discussion on what the UK police will do may I suggest “wasting police time” by David Copperfield and a similar book by Inspector Gadget.
Short answer: Ususally this will be investigated whether the woman likes it or not, and she can even be compelled to testify against her will.
No, obviously not. It seemed in this case that they explicitly refrained from stating the obvious; that domestic violence is not just the norm. I’m asking if there was any specific reason for withholding response like that.
I didn’t see the programme you’re talking about, so forgive me for asking. Is it possible the officer made a judgement that answering the question there and then would have been of no help to the woman, especially as the officer may well have been pre-occupied with ensuring that they are doing everything correctly from a legal and safeguarding perspective?
When I did child safeguarding training, one of the things drilled into us was that we do nothing that constitutes investigation or could be considered to be leading, purely because this puts prosecutions at risk. We were even warned not to type notes up but instead sign, date and have witnessed whatever handwritten notes we took, no matter on what they were written, because cases have fallen apart when defence counsel have suggested that typed notes have been edited at a later date.
It’s possible that this was just an anomalous case - it was just the details (subtle - you would have to have watched the show - the officer seemed to want to respond, but seemed to be holding back) that made me wonder if there was any specific guidance against offering comment.
In my jurisdiction there is certainly not any rule against that response. All our officers are trained on their legal responsibilities during a domestic violence incident. How they communicate to the victim is usually a matter of personal choice. Some are better than others.
Here is the information provided by Women’s Aid about the policy and practice of the police response to domestic violence. It is very comprehensive. It covers possible problems associated with prosecution of cases.