Domestic violence (DV) calls pose a number of physical safety and legal liability risks for law
enforcement officers.
These calls involve crimes between people
with
complex relationship
issues that can make investigating these crimes very
difficult
for officers. In fact, one study
that surveyed patrol officers from 13 different municipal police departments in the Chicago metro
area revealed that, despite the physical dangers associated with DV calls, officers’ greatest
frustrations with handling these calls
were associated with DV victims. Approximately
38% of
surveyed officers indicated that dealing with victim behaviors was their greatest frustration
about handling DV calls. Specifically,
officers expressed frustration over victim behaviors
such as
refusing to cooperate with their investigation, recanting statements, refusing to
testify, or refusing to end the relationship with the batterer. These are valid frustrations
for
officers
, as DV victims are more likely to display these behaviors than are victims
of other crimes.
There has been extensive research about why DV victims tend to stay in their abusive relationships and often fail to cooperate with the investigation and prosecution of their batterer. No matter whether the DV victim is black, white, or Hispanic, male or female, straight or gay, the reasons for these behaviors tend to be similar–and there are many.