Domestic Violence: A DV Detective’s Perspective

Today’s contributor is on the front lines of the fight against Domestic Violence. With nearly 9 years of experience as a DV detective in an Arizona law enforcement agency, she has firsthand experience dealing with both abusers and survivors. As someone who has handled thousands of DV cases, she can testify as an expert in DV and contributed to developing a cutting edge DV policy in her city. 

Today she explains the legal definition of DV a little more clearly and explains what victims can do to protect themselves and seek prosecution.

DV laws differ from state to state and city to city. Of course I am familiar with the laws of my city and state but…there will be different laws in different states. However, many states are similar. Many states have mandatory arrest laws and victimless prosecution for DV crimes.

Many people think of domestic violence as a crime itself that is a violent act against a person. However, “domestic violence” itself isn’t actually a crime (at least not in AZ), it is the umbrella law under which particular crimes fall if they happen within the context of certain relationships. Those relationships and crimes are defined under the domestic violence statute.

In AZ, the statute is Arizona Revised Statute 13-3601. Arizona has a large number of relationships that fall under the DV statute.

Some of those relationships are as follows (though this list is not comprehensive):

• spouses
• former spouses
• children in common
• live together
• lived together in the past
• intimate partners (whether or not they live together)
• immediate family members
• in-laws
• grandparents

There are many crimes listed under the DV statute, not all of them being violent acts against a person or violent acts at all for that matter.

Here is an example of some of those crimes (Again, not a comprehensive list.):

• Assault
• Aggravated assault
• Endangerment
• Criminal damage
• Trespassing
• Burglary
• Judicial interference (i.e. violating an order of protection)
• Threatening and intimidating
• Harassment
• Stalking

What can victims document in DV cases to help with prosecution?

I can tell you this with certainty –

The most important element for prosecution in a DV case is the victim herself.  (Of course there can be male victims of DV but since an overwhelming majority of DV victims are female, I will generally use “her” or “she” when talking about them.)

Many states do have victimless prosecution. The caveat is that a majority of cases actually require the victim for prosecution because most DV happens in private and most often there are no witnesses.

If there are no witnesses to tell what happened and identify the suspect, then the victim has to testify. So even though the law allows for victimless prosecution, the State often doesn’t have enough evidence to move forward without her. Rules of evidence and hearsay exceptions do allow some 911 calls into evidence without requiring the person who made it to testify, but most often that simply isn’t enough.

What are practical examples of information needed to prosecute a DV case?

In the case of a criminal damage DV, for prosecution she must provide an estimate or repair bill (or something to show the value of the damaged item or property). Victims should provide this kind of evidence as soon as possible.

In case of assault:

• Injuries often don’t show up until the next day. In those cases, the victim should contact police and let them know she now has visible injuries so those can be photographed and preserved as evidence.
• If the injury requires medical care, be sure to let the detective know so those medical records can be obtained for evidence.
• Victims should always be honest about how they obtained their injuries when medical staff asks!

So, the best thing a victim can do in a DV case to ensure prosecution is successful is…?

1. Tell a complete story about what happened
2. Remain in contact with the detective and prosecutor
3. Follow-up on anything asked of them by the detective or prosecutor.

Cooperation and participation by the victim is imperative to successful prosecution. She should remain in contact with the detective and prosecutor then come to court to testify.

It sounds very basic and most people who have not been victims of DV would think showing up for court is a no-brainer, but I would estimate that no less than 90% of my victims do NOT show up for court or do not willingly participate in the process. And that may be a conservative estimate.

As a side note, victims should not be afraid to be honest about fighting back in self-defense when they are providing a statement to the officer about what happened. Many victims I talk to don’t want to tell me that part because they think fighting back makes them just as guilty of a crime. That can be the case sometimes but generally it is not.

If a woman gets slapped in the face and responds by shooting the person, I would say that is a bit much in terms of self-defense. But if she gets slapped and the attack is continuing, she is perfectly within her rights to hit back, scratch, pull hair, or do whatever she needs to to protect herself. She can escalate the level of force if her fighting back does not seem to be stopping the attack against her.

The key is being able to articulate the need to defend herself.

What is your advice to a victim who wants to escape?

Victims who want out need to tell someone what’s going on. There are shelters available for DV victims. Some cities have advocacy centers where victims can get help with finding a place to stay, free counseling, a free cell phone they can use to call 911, etc.

Many DV victims never report what is happening to them and thus, there is no one reaching out to them to help. The police, advocates, prosecutors, friends, family members, etc. can’t help if they don’t know what’s going on. If a victim doesn’t want those close to her to know what’s going on, there is always help through the National Domestic Violence Hotline:  1-800-799-7233 or TTY 1- 800-787-3224.  They connect victims to resources.

We’ll hear a little more from this law enforcement officer in another post.

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From Monna – Think escape is impossible? 

You have options.

This law enforcement officer and others actively work to protect abuse survivors every day.

Don’t enable your abuser to continue to abuse.

Your life CAN be different. 

You are valuable! Here are resources to help you take the first step. Be sure the computer you’re using is safe and not being monitored by your abuser.

Every 3 days, someone in Arizona dies as a result of Domestic Violence.

1 in 4 women will face domestic violence in her lifetime. This means someone you know – is in danger and in need of this information. Please share the link via facebook, twitter, tumbler – wherever.

Let’s break the silence and the power of domestic violence – together!

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