Ch 26 Domestic Disturbances

Domestic Disturbances

• Officers should not assist an evicted disputant in forcing entry unless it is necessary to protect life or property.
• If all parties refuse entry, officers should only enter if they have probable cause to believe that immediate entry is necessary to prevent serious bodily injury or render emergency aid.
• A supervisor should be informed in all other cases.
• Officers should leave after entering with consent if one disputant requests it and no other disputant wants them to stay, unless an arrest is imminent or probable cause exists for an assault or other offense to occur without their presence.

Remedies for Domestic Disturbances

• The goal is to de-escalate tension, minimize violence, and prevent future violence.
• Officers should apply the most appropriate remedy in ascending order of intervention.
• Possible remedies:
  • Mediation
  • Informing disputants of appropriate social, medical, or legal services
  • Temporary voluntary separation
  • Informing disputants of possible criminal liability
  • Informing disputants of civil protective order, peace bond, and complaint procedures
  • Voluntary surrendering of weapons
  • Temporary and limited physical restraint
  • Arrest
• Officers should consider the welfare and safety of children in all domestic disputes.

General Procedure for Domestic Disturbances

• Disturbances are often volatile and dangerous situations.
• Two units or a two-man unit should be dispatched, if possible, with the first unit awaiting backup before approaching the scene.
• If a third party initiated the call, inform them of their right to file a formal complaint with a JP court.
• Officers should take charge, separate the disputants, control access to weapons, and limit movement.
• The disputants should be directed to the most public area of the dispute location, such as the living room, unless circumstances make it desirable to talk to them in separate rooms.
• Officers should allow each disputant to individually present their story.
• Officers must remain impartial and deal with the disputants tactfully, avoiding brusqueness, irrelevant interrogation, intimidation, favoritism, or the appearance of favoritism.

Entry and Intervention on Private Premises

• Officers may enter if one of the parties requests police intervention, even if other parties object.
• In cases where one disputant locks out another, officers should not assist the evicted party in forcing entry unless it is immediately necessary to protect life or property.
• If all parties to a domestic dispute voluntarily refuse to admit the officers to the dwelling, officers shall not enter unless they have probable cause to believe that immediate entry is necessary to prevent serious bodily injury or to render emergency aid to an injured person.

Definitions

• Assault - A criminal act which causes bodily injury to another, including one's spouse; a threat against another, including one's spouse, of imminent bodily injury; any threat against another, including one's spouse, made while brandishing a deadly weapon.
• Bodily Injury - Physical pain, illness, or any impairment of physical condition.
• Breach of the Peace - Any unauthorized and unwarranted act which involves violence or which likely will provoke violence.
• Common Law Marriage - A man and woman are married by common law if they agreed to be married, lived together as husband and wife, and represented to others that they were married.
• Deadly Weapon - A firearm or anything manifestly designed, made, or adapted for the purpose of inflicting death or serious bodily injury; or anything that in the manner of its use or intended use can cause death or serious bodily injury.
• Domestic Disturbance - A dispute, whether of a civil or criminal nature, which occurs between members of the same family (or between persons who share a similar intimate relationship) and results in contact with police officers.
• Family - Includes individuals related by consanguinity or affinity, individuals who are former spouses of each other, individuals who are the biological parents of the same child, without regard to marriage or legitimacy, and a foster child and foster parent, whether or not those individuals reside together.
• Family Violence - The intentional use or threat of physical force by a member of a family or household against another member of a family or household, but does not include the reasonable discipline of a child by a person having that duty.
• Household - A unit composed of persons living together in the same dwelling, whether or not they are related to each other. (Member of household includes former member who has filed for protective order).
• In the Presence of - When a police officer, through one or more of his five senses, has probable cause to believe that an offense is being committed, that offense occurs "in the presence of" the officer.
• Intoxication - Any disturbance of mental or physical capacity resulting from the introduction of any substance into the body.
• Mediation - Guiding a discussion of the disputants about their problem to assist them in reaching agreement on a course of action that will end the immediate controversy.