Mandatory Arrest

Menu

  1. Introduction
  2. Types of Domestic Violence
  3. Habitual DV Offenders
  4. Power and Control
  5. The Cycle of Violence
  6. Counter-Intuitive Victim Behaviors
  7. Mandatory Arrest
  8. Lethality Factors
  9. Protection Orders and Bond
  10. Firearm Relinquishment and Affidavits
  11. Recantation
  12. Consulting the Victim about a Plea Offer
  13. “No Face, No Case”
  14. Prima-Facie Case Requirement
  15. Preparing for Trial
  16. Trial
  17. Sentencing
  18. Victim Resources

Law enforcement “shall, without undue delay,” arrest anyone they have probable cause to believe has committed a crime of domestic violence. § 18-6-803.6(1). The same is true when someone has violated a protection order, whether that protection order is a civil or criminal protection order.  § 18-6-803.5(1). Although some have criticized mandatory arrest laws, these laws have served to protect victims who cannot or will always not protect themselves—or their children.

To try to prevent victims from being arrested when defending themselves, the law requires police conduct what is sometimes called “predominant aggressor” analysis when deciding whether to arrest more than one person for what might appear to be reciprocal acts of domestic violence between two people. This analysis requires law enforcement to consider:

      1. Any prior complaints of domestic violence;
      2. The relative severity of the injuries inflicted on each person;
      3. The likelihood of future injury to each person; and
      4. The possibility that one of the persons acted in self-defense.

§ 18-6-803.6(4)(a).

Given the way coercive and controlling abusers wrest power and control away from victims, with appropriate investigation into the history of the relationship and power and control dynamics, law enforcement can usually identify and arrest the real offender and avoid arresting victims who were just defending themselves. This does not, however, prevent a violent resistor from being arrested and charged with domestic violence. If a violent resistor is arrested, you should consider whether, under the facts of your case, the affirmative defense of self-defense would protect them from conviction. See § 18-1-704.

Resources