Domestic violence victims may be hurt by mandatory arrest laws
"Just call the police, they have to do something," is sometimes the advice given to a woman who reveals that she is a victim of intimate partner violence (IPV), more commonly called domestic violence. The thinking behind the advice is a positive opinion that mandatory arrest—a policy that was created in an effort to curb domestic violence—is an effective way to stop the abuse. The law, active in 22 states including Ohio, says that police officers responding to a call for help would no longer need to determine whether one person was truly violent or out of control; every time someone reported abuse, the police would simply be required to make an arrest. But research suggests that the law may be intimidating victims from actually calling the police to report an instance of abuse.