Domestic Violence

The Tennessee domestic violence statute has many good points trying to protect those in need but it also has several downsides. The domestic law means well, but it is flawed and can have many negative effects on good people who don’t deserve to be treated as criminals.

The Tennessee statute 36-3-619 states

If a law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe that a person has committed a crime involving domestic abuse, whether the crime is a misdemeanor or felony, or was committed, or was committed within or with out the presence of an officer, the preferred response is to arrest.

The policy for police officers when it comes to domestic violence is to arrest someone. The policy has many good intentions for example; taking the person who is committing the abusing away and giving them time to cool off. It keeps the batterer away from the person that they are abusing. It gives the one who is being abused a chance to take a stance and doing something about the abuse and get an order of protection away from their spouse or whoever is committing the abuse. Even when there is a mistake by the police by either arresting the wrong person or by turning nothing into something it is better to be safe than sorry.

The pro-arrest policy even with good intentions still has its downfalls. When the police get called out to a domestic dispute the police may not be able to tell who the person that is committing the crime. When it comes down to it the police have to decipher what they are being told by the couple. The police have to use their best judgment and decide what is going on and who the person that is responsible. In the end it's all he said, she said and the police have to make a decision. Stereotypically it is the male who is the abuser so it is most likely the police are going to arrest him. But in some cases he could be innocent. For an example, in the case of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Scott Erickson was arrested for an altercation with his girlfriend, Lisa Ortiz. The police found that she had initiated the fight by throwing objects that caused injury to Erickson. To prevent further attacks, Erikson carried Lisa out of the apartment. Even though she suffered no injuries during the altercation, the police found Erickson's action excessive and charged him with second degree assault. Ortiz later admitted that Erickson "has never been physically abusive toward me, and in no way do I feel threatened or have I ever felt fear from Scott."(Justice Denied, 2007) With pro-arrest being the answer to most cases, the police could be arresting the wrong person. In the case of Erickson, arresting the wrong person can ruin a person’s reputation; make a person possibly lose their job.

Sometimes people can just get into a heated argument and there is no actual abuse happening. Depending whether it is or a neighbor or just a bystander who is unaware of the circumstances of what is happening the situation can be misconstrued. If