Police Candidates and Domestic Assaults
Domestic assault is a serious offence. As an officer I encountered it on a weekly, and unfortunately at times it seemed a daily basis. Victims and witnesses often don’t want police involved, as an arrest of a family member can cause obvious problems including financial hardship, destroyed relationships or potential escalation. Police have a duty to make an arrest if they believe an assault took place and there is evidence to support the charge. That being said, situations sometimes become confusing in the real world.
Scenario:
Amber and Paul had both been working as police officers for about three years and were partnered together one Saturday afternoon. They received a radio call to attend a domestic assault in progress. It was called in from a neighbour in an apartment complex who said a woman and man were fighting in their apartment and in the hallway.
When Amber and Paul arrived on scene there encountered the following situation. There was a woman crying in the bedroom. Paul spoke to a man was standing with a large cut over his right eye. The man stated that he fell, did not want to speak to police and was leaving. Amber spoke to the woman who said she came home to find her husband cheating on her. The other woman left immediately, and she was so upset she started screaming. She says she threw a couple of cups in anger. She said that her husband did not touch her. There were two broken cups on the floor in the kitchen.
Paul spoke to the neighbour who said she saw a woman leave the place in a hurry after shouting began. She heard dishes being broken. Neither the man nor the woman had any record with the police and the woman was currently attending medical school. Paul and Amber did not believe that the man hurt himself by falling, but the man was walking out of the apartment building refusing to cooperate and refusing medical treatment. What actions should the officers take in this situation?
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Ok I have no traing at all but I’ll take a shot at it. I think that they can’t doing anything due to the fact that nobody stated the one of the cups ever hit him. She could have been throwing the cups at the girl running out.
wow I should really look at what I typed before I post it. Typos all over the place
Well, in Ontario, I think the officers would have reasonable grounds to believe that the woman hit the husband with the cup. She would be arrested and charged.
*”Police have a duty to make an arrest if they believe an assault took place and there is evidence to support the charge.”*
With the above quoted statement, Amber and Paul don’t have a choice.
Infidelity can fuel emotions; emotions, can turn UGLY!
-Police have been call
-visible injury (assault)
-reasons to be upset/mad (infidelity)
-property damaged (broken cups)
-both parties are emotional; emotions can be unpredictable!
-Police have reasons to believe a assault has occurred
Officers have to go with their instincts. “Paul and Amber did not believe that the man hurt himself by falling”! Therefore, the wife, as upset as she may be should be arrested, and FULL statement taken. If able to track down husband, he should be informed, and asked to give a statement.
Ideally, parties have been separated, statements taken. During this time it’ll allow both parties to cool down.
As mentioned, “Victims and witnesses often don’t want police involved”! This sounds like one of those times!
As stated it is your sworn duty to make an arrest if there is evidence of domestic assault.In this situation assault evidence is present{broken cups,large cut above males right eye ,and statement from neighbor.} The female should be taken into custody charged with domestic assault due to evidence the person assaulted was the male.
Bit of a Devil’s Advocate here.
1) No evidence of an assault, only a mere suspicion.
2) No arrest should be made without evidence.
All you have is:
a) A neighbour who can testify that there was shouting and the sound of a broken glass / cup whatever.
b) Signs of an injury that are explained by the person that he fell. He is now gone, and you can’t stop him.
c) A woman admitting that she came in shouting and broke two dishes.
d) Two broken dishes. (no mention of blood on them, or indication that there is a piece of dish stuck in the man’s head)
What evidence (physical, witness, anything) that an assault took place? Can you make arrests without any evidence what-so-ever and not face repercussions, like a law suit for a wrongful arrest? I know police are required to make arrests in domestic violence situations, but there still has to be evidence they can present. They couldn’t go to your home tonight and arrest you because a neighbour reported last night that he heard you screaming at your wife / husband.
I think this situation is not as cut and dry as some of you think, and am not positive how I would handle it yet.
You absolutely cannot arrest the woman. None of the parties involved are claiming any physical abuse. There is definitely not enough evidence or eye witness confirmation that it was in fact the broken mugs that cut the husband. At best, in my un-official opinion this could only be filed under some knd of disturbing the peace where by the tenants involved would be kindly asked to keep the noise down for respect of there neighbours.
Again, just my opinion
We do not live in a police state. People have the right to have an arguement. There is no SOLID evidence of an assault. If there are no prior “reports” then leave them alone. At most, I would explain what would happen if this were an assault and the result of such a charge. Police officers are here to protect and serve… not dictate how to live!
The reason why I’m uncertain of what I would do, is imagine the sexual roles were reversed. Woman bleeding from a gash in the eye, saying she fell down, and a man admitting he threw coffee cups with a neighbour reporting that the shouting was so bad she felt compelled to call the police. Remember both officers don’t believe the falling down story and probably feel an assault took place.
Am I being sexist in my thinking here? Is there a difference?
Good to switch around genders, and ask the same question/s. Not being sexist, just being open-minded about a situation.
Keep in mind, the wife walked IN on her husband having an affair, she is upset. Husband, while feeling embarrassed must also be upset. He got caught, and theres two Officers asking questions.
Emotions must be on high level alert.
Think it’s time for the Officers to build a trusting relationship with the wife, and get the truth to what happened. Lending a ear at this time should to wonders.
First post..here is my kick at the cat
Arrest is warranted.
There is evidence that an assault has taken place. If the man does not wish medical attention that is his perogative. The female should be taken into custody and issued a OIC (Officer in Charge order)to address this issue/assault to the judge. If we do nothing, the man may retaliate when we leave.
If there is any question a spousal has taken place we are obligated under law to arrest the suspected party involved.
my two cents….:)
Here are my thoughts!!
• The information giving in the story doesn’t warrant an arrest. A good lawyer would eat this one up!
• The outcome also shouldn’t differ if the wife had the cut on the head.
• I don’t think the two officers can go on a hunch. What they should do is talk to the wife and try to calm her down to see if they can get the truth out of her. Also they can interview the neighbor again to see if they heard what was actually said at the time the cups were thrown. If I got hit in the head with a cup, I would have said something, unless I was knocked out! .
I guess what I am trying to say is, that there has to be more investigation done on this one.
If there wasn’t anymore evidence uncovered, and neither the husband nor the wife wanted to press charges. No arrest could be made. The officers could ask the wife if she has another place to stay or go to, so there is a cooling off period. This will hopefully settle down that situation. I would also tell the wife that if you are called back to attend this matter one of the two will be arrested for disturbing the peace. They have evidence of that!
Two words: Reasonable Grounds.
Although a lawyer may “Eat this one up!” and charges would probably be dropped, it would still be wise to arrest the female to prevent anything from happening after you leave. I believe there is sufficient evidence to arrest on “Reasonable Grounds”. Removing the female from that situation would be best for all parties involved.
Many, maybe all now, provinces have some kind of zero tolerance domestic abuse policy and I believe one of the reason for making those was out of officer frustration of having to be called back to the same place multiple times a day or week only to have the bruised wife (or husband) saying nothing happened and they fell down the stairs, yet again. My understanding is that as long as officer can back up the arrest with reasonable belief they will not get in trouble. What this does is gets the victim out of the situation / environment. As has been stated the victim could still drop charges and the primary will not have a criminal record and nothing will go to court.
In this case I would think most people would strongly suspect the guy did not fall. At that point the Police have to enforce the zero tolerance law even if they suspect the woman will not assault the guy again if he returns.
This is assuming I understand Zero tolerance in most provinces correctly of course. In absence of zero tolerance I would just make a incident report and leave it as from this it sounded like a spur of the moment reaction on her part.
I believe there are no grounds for an arrest in this particular situation. I think they would both be given advice about calling the police again if there are any future problems and either of them would like to lay charges.
When police are called to domestics,they have a legal obligation to protect and resolve every situation.Just because no one claims that they saw the assault take place,does not mean that one did not.In this situation there was an assault,the evidence speaks for itself.Arresting the offender[the wife] not only protects the husband,but protects everyone involved,the husband,wife,even the police.If the police left the residence just giving both parties a warning the situation could turn deadly with emotions at a boiling point.I have seen so many people get killed over domestics even police officers.Police are there to protect lives,not to worry about how things will turn out in court later,thats for atterneys and judges to figure out.
Actually you can make an arrest without hard evidence, like a recorded device., there is however reasons to believe what happened due to the clues and puzzle pieces i.e 2 Broken cups and a head injury. It is up to the cop to arrest the woman due to his theory of what happened. Lawyers might challenge these theories and witnesses but that is why police officers are also credible witnesses and that is why they go to Court as well. This one is a Judgement call.