The prosecutor is getting feedback from local law enforcement officers explaining that they are discouraged from making arrests in cases of domestic violence and child abuse. They claim that they have been neither making arrests in domestic violence situations nor arresting both parties when they go out on a call. It seems that abused women often go back to the abusers, and children who get removed from the homes where they have been abused often return after removal. These occurrences have been especially demoralizing to law enforcement.
One of your jobs in working as a Victims’ Witness Assistant is to help educate law enforcement on the nature and behaviors involved in domestic violence and child abuse. The prosecutor’s office has decided that you should present each of the following topics for the next training session:
How to approach a domestic violence situation when responding to an emergency call
When the parties should be separated
How to interview parties
What information needs to be in the report and why
How to best help a victim
What laws protect victims, including the use of protection orders
Why victims return to abusers
Length of time it may take to stay away from their abusers
Arrests
The legal standard that is needed to make an arrest in a domestic violence case
What evidence should be collected at the arrest
Whether dual arrests are effective law enforcement
How to assist domestic violence victims
Reluctant victims
Help for victims
