... One attempt to curb domestic is the Mandatory Arrest Laws. This law forces the police to arrest an abuser even if the victim does not want it. However in most cases the mandatory arrest law does not decrease abuse and in some cases actually increases the cases of abuse. I believe this law is detrimental to the community.
The Mandatory Arrest Law is a law that was put into place because of a study done in the early 1980s by the city of Minneapolis. ... The authors of this study stated that they did not promote a mandatory arrest law until further study was done, instead they promoted a system were arrest was encouraged but other options would be available in cases of abuse. (Schmidt, pg 117)
In spite of their objections many states put laws into effect shortly after this study was completed which required the police to arrest suspects even without a warrant, when responding to a call if the abuser has caused serious bodily injury, has wielded a weapon or the officer has reason to believe the there will be continued against the victim, even though the officer might feel like there may be a better solution to the problem than just simple arrest. (Utah State Government)
Another reason states have adopted a mandatory arrest law is they are afraid of lawsuits filed against them by victims of abuse who they failed to help. ... (Harvard University) While an arrest may have helped, there is no proof that another course of action would not have been better because the police did almost nothing to help the victim. ...
Another problem with the mandatory arrest law is how it was created. As previously stated a major reason for the law was a study done in Minneapolis. ... The studies in Omaha, Charlotte, and Milwaukee showed that while an arrest helped stop the abuse for a month, after the abuser felt more comfortable the would increase over time.
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