Explaining the Prevalence, Context, and Consequences of Dual Arrest in Intimate Partner Cases

Mandatory, Preferred, or Discretionary: How the Classification of Domestic Violence Warrantless Arrest Laws Impacts Their Estimated Effects on Intimate Partner Homicide

“…Even for state laws that do not cover dating or same-gender relationships, it is possible that there may be a spillover effect of mandatory or preferred arrest laws into these relationships: if police have the power to make warrantless arrests for misdemeanors they did not witness for intimate relationships not covered by DV laws, then the presence of laws favoring arrest for DV may lead them to favor arrest for DV cases without qualifying intimate relationships as well. Such a spillover effect was seen in research by Hirschel et al (2007) which found that arrests increased for nonintimate relationships in states that had mandatory arrest laws for DV. Therefore, DV arrest laws may affect dating and same-gender relationships even if they do not cover them.…”

“…Using a cross-sectional design and data from the National Incident Based Reporting System for 19 states in the year 2000, Hirschel et al (2007) found that the presence of mandatory or preferred arrest laws increased arrest rates for DV incidents. While the research controlled for many factors, including offender demographics and incident seriousness, they were unable to control for other factors that may increase the propensity of police officers to arrest for DV, such as specialized training.…”

A Summary and Analysis of Warrantless Arrest Statutes for Domestic Violence in the United States

“…Further complicating law categorization are statutes that have a combination of "may," "preferred," and "shall arrest" provisions that are contingent on specific circumstances surrounding the DV incident (e.g., whether a deadly weapon was involved). For example, Missouri has one such "may" and "shall" law, and a review of the literature finds this law classified as recommended (Iyengar, 2006), mandatory (Hirschel et al, 2007), and discretionary (American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence, 2007).…”

“…A master list was created of existing DV warrantless arrest law citation compilations (American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence, 2007;Hirschel et al, 2007;Iyengar, 2006;Miller, 2004). The text of each statute, as it read in April 2010, was found on Lexis Nexis and examined to determine whether the law met our case definition described below.…”

“…Statutes that allow the officer to decide whether to arrest (often using the phrase "may arrest") are termed discretionary; those that allow the officer to decide whether to arrest, but also convey a state preference for arrest, are termed preferred; and statutes that seem to require officers to arrest (often stating that officers "shall arrest") are termed mandatory. Researchers have examined the effects of mandatory and preferred arrest laws on outcomes such as dual arrest, where both parties to the event are arrested (Hirschel, Buzawa, Pattavina, Faggiani, & Reuland, 2007), and intimate partner homicide (Iyengar, 2009). However, researchers often do not agree on the classification of individual arrest laws as discretionary, preferred, or mandatory, leading to difficulties in making meaningful conclusions about the impacts of the laws.…”