No Easy Answers: Public Policy, Criminal Justice, and Domestic Violence

An Exploratory Analysis of Florida Law Enforcement Domestic Violence Policies

“…She asserts that dual arrest could lead to serious legal problems for victims such as deportation of immigrant women, adverse child custody decisions, and loss of employment or housing (Humphries 2002). Humphries further suggests that researchers need to be certain that future research carefully documents the efficacy of such policies, and proposes that "system-wide combinations" might be more effective than "singlereform" measures such as mandatory arrest (Humphries 2002, p. 94).…”

“…Similarly, Humphries (2002) raised concerns about mandatory arrest policies by pointing out that these policies often result in unintended consequences that can be quite harmful to victims, including the possibility of dual arrests. She asserts that dual arrest could lead to serious legal problems for victims such as deportation of immigrant women, adverse child custody decisions, and loss of employment or housing (Humphries 2002).…”

“…Humphries further suggests that researchers need to be certain that future research carefully documents the efficacy of such policies, and proposes that "system-wide combinations" might be more effective than "singlereform" measures such as mandatory arrest (Humphries 2002, p. 94). For instance, team approaches that combine social services for victim support and counseling with law enforcement response should be tested for effectiveness at reducing domestic violence (Humphries 2002).…”

“…like system-wide responses including social services (Humphries 2002); coordinated response teams (Whetstone 2001); and mandatory counseling (Hoyle and Sanders 2000). In a recent analysis of over 4000 cases from several different jurisdictions, Maxwell et al (2002) found that arrest resulted in reduced rates of reoffending.…”

rethinking domestic violence in theory and practice

“…Many feminist criminologists and concerned policymakers initially applauded this development in terms of the historical progress it represented in taking domestic violence seriously. As Drew Humphries (2002) writes, Mandatory and presumptive arrest policies have been among the most important initiatives in the field of domestic violence in the last three decades. They have done well in forcing police departments to take domestic violence seriously.…”