Domestic Violence Law Boosts Arrests

Arrests of suspects in domestic violence incidents have increased sevenfold since a new state law was enacted two years ago allowing law enforcement officers to make arrests even when the victim refuses to press charges, according to Los Angeles Police Department officials.

Noting that more than 40% of all women homicide victims are killed by their spouses, Mayor Tom Bradley during an awards ceremony at the Police Academy Tuesday praised the Police Department for a new program that trains officers on how to deal sensitively with wife-beating, child abuse and violence against the elderly.

“Gang violence may grab headlines, but violence in the home is much more pervasive and dangerous,” Bradley said in presenting Police Chief Daryl F. Gates with a city commendation in recognition of the training program. About 7,400 officers have completed the eight-hour course on the law and how to apply it.

He noted that police have aggressively upheld the law, making it a “model program” that other municipalities are following. Officials said there were 5,000 felony arrests for domestic violence in the city last year, compared to 700 before the law took effect.

Calling the domestic abuse statistics “staggering,” officials noted that nationwide, 6 million women are beaten every year. Also:

- Nearly 70% of teen-age boys who commit murder kill the man who has been beating their mother.

- 60% of all married women experience physical violence by their husbands at some time during their marriage.

- Domestic violence costs an estimated $100 million in medical bills nationally.

Cheryl Ward, chairwoman of the Los Angeles County Domestic Violence Council, which includes both private and public agencies, said in an interview:

“We have advanced many miles and are pleased with police efforts. They have done a tremendous job.

“And the last few years has also seen a merging of interests by both the public agencies, such as police and prosecutors, and private agencies, such as shelters and counselors, in dealing with the problem of domestic violence. It is a miracle.”

Before enactment of the 1986 state legislation, police could not arrest suspects in domestic violence cases unless other family members or the victim pressed charges. In essence, all police could do was advise the husband and wife to go to their respective corners, said Officer Gloria Vargas, a Police Department training officer.

In most cases, those arrested end up receiving treatment as condition of probation. At the same time, Ward said, there is a greater effort to prosecute felonies where there are serious injuries.

Typically the victims, afraid of even more violence, would not turn their husbands or relatives in, and in many cases would even join their spouse in attacking the police who came to their rescue, Vargas said.

Underlining the severity of the problem and the fear harbored by many victims, Vargas recalled in an interview an incident that she and her partner responded to several years ago before the law was in effect. They were called to a house in the San Fernando Valley by concerned neighbors three times in one evening.

The first time, the wife said there was no problem. The second time they came back, the husband had taken the car and rammed it through the garage door and roughed the woman up again.

Vargas said, “She told us, ‘It’s OK, my husband is upset. Please go away.’ The third time, the husband tried to push me and my partner around. Only then could we arrest him,” Vargas said.

Vargas, pointing out that there were more than 7,000 misdemeanors prosecuted by the city attorney’s office under the new law last year, said, “We are trying to break the cycle of violence. Violence is learned.

“Kids grow up seeing their father get away with beating up mom. So what happens? They grow up and beat up their wife or resort to other violence. Now there is a chance to change that vicious circle.”