Biennium In-Service Domestic Violence

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Biennium In-ServiceDomestic Violence

• NMDPS Accreditation Number NM14113G

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• Domestic violence is an unpleasant problem
  affecting significant numbers of people in every
  country through out the world, and remains one of
  the most difficult and politically sensitive of
  social issues to manage.

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• Domestic violence is abusive behavior directed
  toward someone with whom an intimate relationship
  currently or formally existed.

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• Domestic Violence is a pattern of coercive
  behaviors that involves physical abuse or the
  threat of physical abuse. This can include
  repeated psychological abuse, sexual assault,
  progressive social isolation, deprivation,
  intimidation, or economic coercion.

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• State Statue Definition
• 30-3-11 As used in the Crimes Against Household
  Members Act 30-3-10 NMSA 1978, household
  member means a spouse, former spouse or family
  member, including a relative, parent, present or
  former step-parent, present or former in-law, or
  a co-parent of a child or person with whom a
  person has had a continuing personal
  relationship. Cohabitation is not necessary to
  be deemed a household member for the purposes of
  the Crimes Against Household Members Act.

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Domestic Violence Statistics

• FBI reported Domestic Violence is the 2nd most
  committed crime in the United States (Petty
  Larceny is 1)
• The National Health Survey of American Women
  reported, each year, 7 of all American women are
  physically abused by their spouse or partner.

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• The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
  reports, every year there are more women beaten
  by a spouse or intimate partner than are injured
  in auto accidents, rapes and muggings combined.

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• Domestic Violence is perpetrated by adults or
  adolescents against their intimate partners in
  current or former dating, married or cohabitating
  relationships of heterosexuals, gay men,
  lesbians, bisexuals or transgender individuals.

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• Battering is the major cause of injury to women
  aged 14-45, causing more injuries than auto
  accidents, muggings, and rapes combined.
• One in ten cases of women abused by their male
  partner are reported.
• 50 to 70 of men who abuse their female partners
  also physically abuse their children
• Reported by New Mexico Attorney Generals Office

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• On average, more than three women are murdered by
  their husbands or boyfriends in this country
  everyday.
• Bureau of Justice Statistics, Crime Data Brief,
  Intimate Partner Violence, 1993-2001, February
  2003

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Old Attitudes regarding Domestic Violence

• Its a private matter or family matter
• Restore the peace and get back on the road
• If there are marks on both parties, its a mutual
  problem and both are arrested
• If there are no marks, I cant do anything
• If I didnt see it, there is nothing I can do
• Tell the guy to take a walk around the block and
  cool off
• Separate the couple and suggest they get
  counseling

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• In the past, police have tried to mediate,
  separate, and make couples "just get through the
  night" when violence was present in the home.
  That approach to domestic violence only
  perpetuated the problem, as children in those
  violent homes became the next generation of
  victims and batterers. All too often the only
  end to this cycle was homicide and suicide. Such
  crisis intervention techniques ignored the
  criminal nature of these acts simply because the
  crimes occurred in the home.

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• In recent years, police departments have found
  arrest to be an effective early intervention
  strategy which dramatically reduces the domestic
  homicide rate and repeat calls for service. By
  working to stop the violence, make the victim
  safe, and hold the batterer accountable, police
  can break the cycle of violence.

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Emerging/Current Attitudes regarding Domestics

• Domestic Violence calls are taken seriously
  because it affects everyone in the community
• More thorough investigations are conducted
• Rights and information about services and legal
  remedies that may be available are explained to
  the victim

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New Trends

• Specialized law enforcement units
• Increased and specialized training of law
  enforcement officers
• Specialized victims services/advocates
• Collaboration between law enforcement and victims
  services/advocates
• Recognition of the impact on children children
  as witnesses

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• Participation in coordinated community responses
  to domestic violence
• Recognition of teen dating violence
• Establishment of fatality review teams (adult and
  children victims)
• More attention to safety planning for battered
  women and their children

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• CYCLE OF VIOLENCE

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CYCLE OF VIOLENCE

• IT IS A REOCCURING BEHAVIORAL PATTERN WHERE THE
  OFFENDER SWINGS BETWEEN AFFECTIONATE, REMORSEFUL
  CALM PERIODS OR TENSE DEMANDS CULMINATING IN
  VIOLENCE.

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CYCLE OF VIOLENCE

• According to this widely accepted theory
  developed by Dr. Lenore Walker, there are three
  distinct cycles within the abusive relationship.
  There is the (1) tension building phase, the (2)
  acute battering incident, and the (3) honeymoon
  phase.

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CYCLE OF VIOLENCE

• Phase One - Tension Building
• This phase is marked by an increase in tension
  where a victim will report "walking on eggshells"
  in order to try to avoid the battering.
• a) Tension building may last hours or months or
  even years.
• b) The soon-to-be aggressor is edgy, irritable,
  possessive, demanding.
• c) Minor outbursts may betray his mounting anger
  and aggression.

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• d) The victim may deny or withdraw from
  stressful periods, or be too nurturing or
  compliant in order to avoid further
  confrontations.
• e) This proves futile because the victim can not
  accommodate the aggressor's unrealistic demands.
• f) Psychological warfare

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CYCLE OF VIOLENCE

• Phase II - Acute battering
• In this phase, the acute battering incidents may
  vary from verbal and physical aggression to
  punching, stabbing, or even homicide.
• a) The aggressor explodes having convinced
  himself that violence is justified.
• b) Actions may range from shoving, slapping, or
  punching or escalate to sexual abuse, torture or
  murder.
• c) Even without physical attack the victim may
  threatened with a knife or gun.
• d) Pets and property may be destroyed.
• e) Police are called during this phase.
• f) Most dangerous cycle because violence is
  usually occurring.
• g) The aggressor will be angry, the victim will
  be fearful.
• h) The victim may consciously or subconsciously
  provoke the attack to get it over.

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CYCLE OF VIOLENCE

• Phase III Honeymoon
• Phase three is marked by denying or minimizing
  the violence, promises and apologies, and the
  hope that the battering will never happen again.
• a) This is the loving period when the aggressor
  expresses regret about the damages and injury,
  and may deny his responsibility.
• b) He apologizes and attempts to comfort the
  victim and promises better treatment in the
  future.
• c) The aggressor is apologetic and loving. This
  may be the only time that he/she is good to the
  victim.
• d) The victim wants to believe that this will not
  happen again.
• e) Police often arrive in this phase, and thus
  both victim and suspect are reluctant to talk
  with the officers.
• f) In prolonged abusive relationship, phase III
  becomes a time when there is simply an absence of
  violence.
• Over time the abuse dangerously escalates and the
  honeymoon phase shortens and sometimes disappears
  entirely. The time of the cycle varies from
  relationship to relationship.

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DYNAMICS OF THE OFFENDER
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Why Offenders Batter

• Key Point For the batterer the violence is
  about power and control. Looking at the victims
  behavior as an explanation for the violence takes
  the focus off the perpetrator's responsibility
  and unintentionally supports the abusers violent
  behavior.
• The batterers behaviors are choices

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Power and Control

• Recurring violence is not a blind lashing out or
  random, uncontrolled outburst of anger.
• Offenders carefully pick the time, place, target
  means no matter how out of control they may
  seem.

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• Gain Power and Control
• Physical Assaults
• During a violent episode, the offender will often
  feel an increased sense of power
• Emotional/Verbal Abuse
• Intimidation
• Using Coercion and Threats
• Stalking/Harassment
• Economic abuse
• Isolation
• Using Children
• Minimizing, Denying, blaming
• Offenders carefully pick the time, place, target
  means no matter how out of control they many
  seem

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• It works/gets them what they want
• Violence has short-lived benefits and is
  ultimately destructive
• Learned behavior
• 50 of the men who abuse women were either abused
  as a child or saw their mother abused
• Learned through observation
• Can be learned at an early age
• Can be learned from peer groups, television, etc.

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• Battering is NOT caused by
• Illness (less than 5)
• Genetics (D.V. is learned)
• Alcohol
• Out of Control Behavior
• Stress
• Anger
• Victims Behavior

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Signs of Battering Personality

• Jealousy
• Controlling Behavior
• Unrealistic Expectations
• Isolation
• Blames Others for Problems
• Blames Others for Feelings
• Hypersensitivity
• Cruelty to Animals or Children

• Verbal Abuse
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
• History of Battering
• Threats of Violence
• Breaking or Striking Objects
• Use of Force During an Argument

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The Victims
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• The victims are usually female
• The victim has learned from negative
  reinforcement
• Uses the safety provided by the officers arrival
  to vent
• May not wish for any action to be taken
• May hinder the investigation

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• The victim often experiences fear of many things
• The perpetrator
• The perpetrators family
• Losing their job
• Starting over
• Being alone
• Failing in the relationship

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• The victim often leaves the perpetrator many time
  before they can leave for good
• The victim many times experiences Isolation
• Isolation from family
• Isolation from friends
• Isolation from employment
• Physical as well as emotional isolation is often
  times experienced by the victim

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• Many victims try to leave only to be followed,
  pursued, terrorized re-assaulted.
• PHYSICAL HAZARDS- offender repeatedly threatens
  to kill the victim, the children or himself if
  she leaves.

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Barriers to Women Leaving
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• Fear for Safety of self and Other
• Fear for Children
• Financial Dependence
• Religious Beliefs
• Isolation/Lack of Support
• Shame
• Low Self-esteem
• Culture
• Language

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• Extreme high housing start up costs
• Difficulty in obtaining legal assistance
• Difficulty in finding an adequately paying job
• Problems related to the kids-moving the household
  and avoiding absenteeism on the job.

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• Feelings of fear, loneliness vulnerability
• Pressure from family friends to give it one
  more try.
• Repeated pleas from the offender to come back
  keep the family together
• Cultural pressures to reunite the family

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• Pleas from the kids to bring Daddy home.
• Memories of the good times
• Continued harassment, possible assaults or
  violations of child custody arrangements by the
  offender.

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The Children
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• Children are the forgotten victim
• Children often learn that violence is an
  acceptable part of family/intimate life.

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• Often learn to use violence to express
  frustration and anger
• May blame themselves for the problems
• May be emotionally or physically neglected

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• Children may be injured
• Accidentally
• Intentionally
• While trying to intervene

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Investigations
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• Once the scene has been made safe and everything
  has been calmed down, the victim and suspect can
  be interviewed.

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Interviewing the Victim

• A common thread that must run through the
  interviewing of victims of any crime is concern
  and respect for the victim. The officer must
  always be professional and utilize common
  courtesy as well as overall objectiveness and
  open mindedness.

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• The way in which you engage the victim can serve
  to either open up the channels of communication,
  or completely shut them down.

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Interviewing the Suspect

• Remember, batterers are manipulative in nature,
  and will do all they can to get you to collude
  with them and be on their side.

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Interviewing Witnesses

• Interview anyone that might have heard or seen
  anything.
• Dont forget about the children.

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The Arrest
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• One problem that has been occurring nationwide as
  a result of a more aggressive approach to
  domestic violence is the occurrence of mutual
  arrest.

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• The occurrence of dual arrests further alienates
  the victim causing her to distrust the system and
  be reluctant to seek help in the future.
• It further enables the suspect who now believes
  that he has won and what he has done isnt all
  that bad.

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• When responding to a domestic violence call
  officers must first confirm that neither party
  used force in self-defense. All self-defense
  claims should be completely explored before
  moving to a predominant/primary aggressor
  analysis.

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PRIMARY AGGRESSOR DUAL ARRESTS

• 40-13-1.1 Legislative findings state policy
  dual arrests
• The legislature finds that domestic abuse
  incidents are complex and require special
  training on the part of law enforcement officers
  to respond appropriately to domestic abuse
  incidents. The state of New Mexico discourages
  dual arrests of persons involved in incidents of
  domestic abuse. A law enforcement officer, in
  making an arrests for domestic abuse, shall seek
  to identify and shall consider whether one of the
  parties acted in self defense.

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• If two or more persons make a complaint of family
  violence to an officer, the officer should try
  and determine who was the prominent aggressor.
• Arrest is the preferred response only in regard
  to the predominant aggressor.
• Arrest is not the appropriate response for a
  person who was not the predominant aggressor.

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• The officer shall consider
• History of domestic abuse between the parties
• Relative severity of injuries inflicted on each
  person
• Evidence from the persons involved in the
  domestic abuse
• The likelihood of future injury to each person
• Whether one of the persons acted in self-defense
  and
• Evidence/statements obtained from the witnesses.

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• An officer should not threaten, suggest or
  otherwise indicate the possible arrest of all
  parties to discourage future requests for
  intervention by police.
• An officer should not base the decision to arrest
  on the consent of the victim or the officers
  perception of the willingness of the victim to
  testify or participate in a judicial proceeding.

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Predominant Aggressor Analysis

• Compare the following
• Severity of injury
• Presence of fear
• Use of force
• Intimidation
• Prior history of abuse
• Likelihood to cause future harm
• Body language
• Witnesses
• Self Defense wounds

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Report Writing
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• Your report should describe in detail the gravity
  of the problem with both current and historical
  information about the relationship and violence.

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Purpose of your report

• Establishes that a crime was committed and
  details the elements of the crime
• Communicates all relevant information for actions
  taken by law enforcement, including reason for
  investigation
• Is a permanent record of your observations and
  actions regarding a particular incident

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Characteristics of a Well Written Report

• Factual
• Includes exact statements. Contains excited
  utterances in quotes
• Demonstrates emotions through the use of
  description of demeanor
• Facts are items, which can be verified through
  one of your fives senses
• Sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell

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• Accurate
• Time of dispatch, response, incident recorded as
  exactly as possible
• Correct names, dates of birth, addresses, and
  identification of all parties including children
  and witnesses
• Measurements included are accurate, ser of
  weapons noted, detailed description of weapons.
  Scene accurately described
• Injuries are carefully noted, described and
  documented

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• Objective
• Contains descriptive language, not opinions
• Contains all accounts of incident, even if
  conflicting
• Complete, yet concise and clear
• Contains Who, When, What, Where and How in detail
• Explains why, if applicable, in an objective
  manner
• Uses direct language
• Indicates arrest/warrant information

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1. Includes available supplemental documents/forms
   to accentuate evidence uncovered during the case
   investigation
2. Includes history of violence used by offender,
   including known criminal history

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Terminology

• Abrasionsscraping away of skin or mucous
  membrane
• LacerationsInjury caused by force (tear)
• CutInjury with sharp object (incision)
• Fracturebreaking of the bone

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• Contusions/Bruisesa traumatic injury (usually to
  the skin but sometimes to internal organs) in
  which blood vessels are broken but tissue
  surfaces remain intact.
• Bruises can not be dated, as the rate at which a
  contusion will heal is not predictable
• Is dependant upon impacted force
• Vasuclarity of injury site
• Underlying structures at the impact site

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• Chokinginternal (obstruction)
• Strangulationexternal (force is applied)

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Liability
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Six Most Common Areas of Officer Liability

1. Failure to take proper actions to protect a
   citizen
2. Failure to appropriately enforce a court order
   protecting a victim of domestic abuse
3. Failure to respond at all or in a timely manner
4. Failure to provide information to a victim as
   required by law
5. Arresting a citizen without establishing probable
   cause.
6. Exhibiting a pattern of differential treatment or
   application of the law to domestic abuse cases.

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FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS ACT

• (42 U.S.C. 1983), ALLOWS SUITS AGAINST
  MUNICIPALITIES AND MUNICIPAL OFFICERS

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Protection Orders
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• A protection order is a court order that is
  designed to stop violent and harassing behavior
  between a victim and the abuser.
• This includes family member, domestic partner,
  or former domestic partner including
• Spouse, former spouse, family member, including a
  relative, parent, present or former stepparent,
  present or former in-law, child or co-parent of a
  child, or dating partner or previous dating
  partner.
• Note Same-sex partners and minors are eligible
  to file for protection orders. Cohabitation is
  not necessary to be deemed a household member for
  purposes of this section

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• Types of Protection Orders
• Emergency Order40-13-3.2
• The district court may issue an ex parte written
  emergency order of protection when a law
  enforcement officer states to the court in
  person, by telephone or via facsimile and files a
  sworn written statement, setting forth the need
  for an emergency order of protection, and the
  court finds reasonable grounds to believe that
  the petitioner or the petitioners child is in
  immediate danger of domestic abuse following an
  incident of domestic abuse by a household member.
  The written statement shall include the location
  and telephone number of the respondent.
• The order is good for 72 hours or until the close
  of business the next business day which ever of
  those is later. The victim must file for a
  temporary order during business hours as soon as
  possible.

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• Temporary Order of Protection40-13-4
• Petition is filed by victim in District Court.
  The court can issue a temporary order of
  protection if there is probable cause to give the
  judge reason to believe an act of domestic
  violence has occurred.
• A hearing shall be held within 10 days to
  question the continuing the order.

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• Order of protection40-13-5
• Can be issued only after a court hearing.
  Permanent orders typically last up to six months
  if you have a child with the abuser, or can last
  up to one year if there are no children. On rare
  occasions a judge may grant orders for longer
  periods of time.

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Full Faith and Credit
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FULL FAITH AND CREDIT

• THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT (VAWA) WAS SIGNED
  INTO LAW IN 1994 BY PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON AS A
  MEANS OF PROVIDING AS MUCH LEGAL SIGNIFICANCE AS
  POSSIBLE TO ORDERS OF PROTECTION. THE VAWA
  REQUIRES ALL STATE AND TRIBAL COURTS AND COURTS
  IN US TERRITORIES, TO ACCORD FULL FAITH AND
  CREDIT TO ORDERS OF PROTECTION ISSUED FROM OTHER
  JURISDICTIONS.

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• THUS, UNDER THE CONDITIONS SET FORTH IN THE VAWA,
  THE LAW PROVIDES FOR MANDATORY NATIOWIDE
  ENFORCEMENT OF ORDERS OF PROTECTION FOR VICTIMS
  OF CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN.

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• Validity of the Order
• IS THE NAME OF THE STATE COURT THAT ISSUED THE
  ORDER PRESENT ON THE FACE OF THE ORDER?
• ARE THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES THAT ARE SUBJECT TO
  THE ORDER IDENTIFIED?
• DOES THE ORDER STATE THAT THE COURT HAD
  JURISDICTION OVER THE SUBJECT MATTER AND THE
  PARTIES?
• DOES THE ORDER SHOW THE SIGNATURE OF A JUDGE OR
  JUDICIAL OFFICER?
• DOES THE ORDER SHOW AN EXPIRATION DATE?

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• An order of protection issued in another
  jurisdiction is enforceable when
• the order appears to be valid
• there is probable cause to believe that a
• violation of the order occurred in the
• enforcing jurisdiction

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Verification Methods

• Verification can be accomplished by any ONE of
  the following methods
• Confirmation of the elements of an order in the
  NCIC
• Protection Order File
• Confirmation through communication with the
  issuing
• court
• Review of the elements of an order in the state
  or local
• protection order registry of the issuing
  jurisdiction
• Review of the elements of an order if previously
  filed
• with authorities in the enforcing jurisdiction
• Personal knowledge of the officer

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What is NOT required under Federal law

• Certification form be attached
• That the order or the signature of the issuing
  authority be original
• The order contain raised seal or stamp of the
  issuing court
• That the victim register the order in the
  enforcing jurisdiction