Exceptional Clearances,“Real” Cases of Intimate Partner Violence,and Mandatory Arrest Laws

Abstract

This study examined the extent to which cases of intimate partner violence were cleared by arrest, remained open, or closed by exceptional clearance. Incident and state-level factors associated with each outcome were examined for incidents submitted to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) from 2000 to 2009. Using the 10 years of data, comprising 5,481 jurisdictions in 36 states and the District of Columbia, findings show exceptional clearance is more likely to occur in residences, incidents of lower severity, and with same-sex couples, while being less likely in states with preferred and mandatory arrest laws. Research and policy implications are discussed.

Keywords

arrest exceptional clearance NIBRS prosecutor victims

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Addington

L. A.

Rennison

C. M.

(2008). Rape co-occurrence: Do additional crimes affect victim reporting and policy clearance of rape? Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 24, 205–226. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-008-9043-9

Bachman

Coker

A. L.

(1995). Police involvement in domestic violence: The interactive effects of victim injury, offender’s history of violence, and race. Violence and Victims, 10, 91–106. https://doi.org/10.1891/0886-6708.10.2.91

Berk

R. A.

Sherman

(1988). Police responses to family violence incidences: An analysis of an experimental design with incomplete randomization. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 83, 70–76. https://doi.org/10.2307/2288920

Berk

S. F.

Loseke

D. R.

(1980–1981). “Handling” family violence: Situational determinants of police arrest in domestic disturbances. Law & Society Review, 15, 317–346. https://doi.org/10.2307/3053608

Bernstein

Kostelac

(2002). Lavender and blue: Attitudes about homosexuality and behavior toward lesbian and gay men among police officers. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 18(3), 302–328. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043986202018003006

Berthelot

E. R.

Blanchard

T. C.

Brown

T. A.

(2008). Scots-Irish women and the southern culture of violence: The influence of Scot-Irish females on high rates of southern violence. Rural Southern Sociology, 23(2), 157–170.

Bouffard

J. A.

(2000). Predicting type of sexual assault case closure from victim, suspect, and cases characteristics. Journal of Criminal Justice, 28(6), 527–542. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0047-2352(00)00068-4

Brearley

H. C.

(1932). Homicide in the United States. University of North Carolina Press.

Brownmiller

(1975). Against our will – Men, women and rape. Simon & Schuster.

10.

Buzawa

Austin

(1993). Determining police response to domestic violence victims. American Behavioral Scientist, 36, 610–623. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764293036005006

11.

Buzawa

E. S.

Hotaling

(2000). The police response to domestic violence calls for assistance in three Massachusetts towns: Final report. National Institute of Justice.

12.

Cohen

(1998). Culture, social organization and patterns of violence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 408–419. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.75.2.408

13.

Dawson

Dinovitzer

(2001). Victim cooperation and the prosecution of domestic violence in a specialized court. Justice Quarterly, 18, 595–622. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418820100095031

14.

DeWees

M. A.

Parker

K. F.

(2003). Women, region and types of homicide. Homicide Studies, 7, 368–393. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088767903256462

15.

Dichter

M. E.

Marcus

S. C.

Morabito

M. S.

Rhodes

K. V.

(2011). Explaining the IPV arrest decision: Incident, agency and community factors. Criminal Justice Review, 36(1), 22–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734016810383333

16.

Durfee

(2012). Situational ambiguity and gendered patterns of arrest for intimate partner violence. Violence Against Women, 18(1), 64–84. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801212437017

17.

Durfee

Fetzer

(2016). Offense type and the arrest decision in cases of intimate partner violence. Crime & Delinquency, 62(7), 954–977. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128714540277

18.

Eitle

(2005). The influence of mandatory arrest policies, police organizational characteristics, and situational variables on the probability of arrest in domestic violence cases. Crime & Delinquency, 51, 573–597. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128705277784

19.

Ellison

C. G.

(1991). An eye for an eye? A note on the southern subculture of violence thesis. Social Forces, 69, 1223–1239. https://doi.org/10.2307/2579310

20.

Ellison

C. G.

Burr

J. A.

McCall

P. L.

(2003). The enduring puzzle of southern homicide. Homicide Studies, 7, 326–352. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088767903256463

21.

Fagan

(1996). The criminalization of domestic violence: Promises and limits. U.S. Department of Justice: National Institute of Justice. NCJ 157641.

22.

Feder

(1996). The importance of offender’s presence in the arrest decision when police respond to domestic violence calls. Journal of Criminal Justice, 12, 279–305. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0047-2352(96)00034-7

23.

Feder

(1998). Police handling of domestic violence calls: Is there a case for discrimination? Crime & Delinquency, 44, 139–153. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128798044002009

24.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). (2018). 2019 National-incident based reporting system user manual. Retrieved October 28, 2019, from https://ucr.fbi.gov/nibrs/nibrs-user-manual

25.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). (2019). Crime in the United States 2018: Offenses cleared. Retrieved October 28, 2019, from https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2018/crime-in-the-u.s.-2018/topic-pages/clearances

26.

Feeney

(2000). Police clearances: A poor way to measure the impact of Miranda on police. Rutgers Law Journal, 32, 1–114.

27.

Felson

R. B.

Lantz

(2016). When are victims unlikely to cooperate with police? Aggressive Behavior, 42, 97–108. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21626

28.

Fraehlich

Ursel

(2014). Arresting women: Pro-arrest policies, debates, and developments. Journal of Family Violence, 29(5), 507–518. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-014-9605-6

29.

Franklin

C. A.

Goodson

Garza

A. D.

(2019). Intimate partner violence among sexual minorities: Predicting police officer arrest decisions. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 46(8), 1181–1199. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854819834722

30.

Goodmark

(2013). Transgender people, intimate partner abuse, and the legal system. Harvard Civil Rights Civil Liberties Law Review, 48, 51–104.

31.

Hall

(2005). Domestic violence arrest decision making: The role of suspect availability in the arrest decision. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 32, 390–411. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854805276403

32.

Hamilton

Worthen

M. G.

(2011). Sex disparities in arrest outcomes for domestic violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 26(8), 1559–1578. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260510370592

33.

Hirschel

Buzawa

(2013). The impact of offenders leaving the scene on the police decision to arrest in cases of intimate partner violence. Violence Against Women, 19, 1080–1104. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801213501843

34.

Hirschel

Buzawa

Pattavina

Faggiani

(2007a). Domestic violence preferred and mandatory arrest laws: To what extent do they influence police arrest decisions? Journal of Criminology and Criminology, 98, 255–298.

35.

Hirschel

Buzawa

Pattavina

Faggiani

Reuland

(2007b). Explaining the prevalence, context, and consequences of dual arrest in intimate partner cases: Final report submitted to U.S. Department of Justice. http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/218355.pdf

36.

Hirschel

Deveau

(2017). The impact of primary aggressor laws on single versus dual arrest in incidents of intimate partner violence. Violence Against Women, 23, 1155–1176. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801216657898

37.

Hirschel

Faggiani

(2012). When an arrest is not an arrest: Exceptionally clearing cases of intimate partner violence. Police Quarterly, 15(4), 358–385. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611112452152

38.

Hirschel

Hutchison

I. W.

(2001). The relative effects of offense, offender, and victim variables on the decision to prosecute domestic violence cases. Violence Against Women, 7, 46–59. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778010122182299

39.

Hirschel

Hutchison

I. W.

(2003). The voices of domestic violence victims: Predictors of victim preference for arrest and the relationship between preference for arrest and revictimization. Crime and Delinquency, 49(2), 313–336. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128702251067

40.

Hirschel

McCormack

P. D.

(2021). Same-sex couples and the police: A ten-year study of arrest and dual arrest rates in responding to incidents of intimate partner violence. Violence Against Women, 27(9), 1119–1149. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801220920378

41.

Hirschel

McCormack

P. D.

Buzawa

(2017). A 10-year study of the impact of intimate partner violence primary aggressor laws on single and dual arrest. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(3-4), 1356–1390. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260517739290

42.

T.-N.

(2003). The influence of suspect gender in domestic violence arrests. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 27, 183–195. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02885693

43.

Houry

Reddy

Parramore

(2006). Characteristics of victims coarrested for intimate partner violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 21(11), 1483–1492. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904805293483

44.

Jarvis

J. P.

Regoeczi

W. C.

(2009). Homicide clearances: An analysis of arrest versus exceptional outcomes. Homicide Studies, 13(2), 74–188. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088767909331694

45.

Jones

D. A.

Belknap

(1999). Police responses to battering in a progressive pro-arrest jurisdiction. Justice Quarterly, 15, 249–273. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418829900094131

46.

Lantz

(2020). Victim, police, and prosecutorial responses to same-sex intimate partner violence: A comparative approach. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 36, 206–227. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043986219894429

47.

Lee

M. R.

Bankston

W. B.

Hayes

T. C.

Thomas

S. A.

(2007). Revisiting the southern culture of violence. The Sociological Quarterly, 48, 253–275. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.2007.00078.x

48.

Lerman

L. G.

(1981). Prosecution of spouse abuse innovations in criminal justice response. Center for Women’s Policy Studies.

49.

Lyons

M. P.

Anthony

C. M.

Davis

K. M.

Fernandez

Torres

A. N.

Marcus

D. K.

(2005). Police judgments of culpability and homophobia. Applied Psychology in Criminal Justice, 1(1), 1–14.

50.

Mallory

Hasenbush

Sears

(2015). Discrimination and harassment by law enforcement officers in the LGBT community. Williams Institute.

51.

Martin

M. E.

(1997). Double your trouble: Dual arrest in family violence. Journal of Family Violence, 12(2), 139–157. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022832610728

52.

McCormack

P. D.

Hirschel

(2018). Race and the likelihood of intimate partner violence arrest and dual arrest. Race and Justice, 11(4), 434–454. https://doi.org/10.1177/2153368718802352

53.

McCormack

P. D.

Pattavina

Tracy

P. E.

(2017). Assessing the coverage and representativeness of the National Incident-Based Reporting System. Crime & Delinquency, 63, 493–516. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128717694595

54.

McMahon

Pence

(2003). Making social change: Reflections on individual and institutional advocacy with women arrested for domestic violence. Violence Against Women, 9, 47–74. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801202238430

55.

Novak

K. J.

Frank

Smith

B. W.

Engel

R. S.

(2002). Revisiting the decision to arrest: Comparing beat and community officers. Crime & Delinquency, 48, 70–98. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128702048001003

56.

Parnas

R. I.

(1967). The police response to domestic disturbance. Wisconsin Law Review, 2, 914–960.

57.

Pattavina

Morabito

Williams

(2016). Examining connections between the police and prosecution in sexual assault case processing: Does the use of exceptional clearance facilitate a downstream orientation? Victims and Offenders, 11(2), 315–334. https://doi.org/10.1080/15564886.2015.1046622

58.

Renzetti

C. M.

(1988). Violence in lesbian relationships: A preliminary analysis of causal factors. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 3(4), 381–399. https://doi.org/10.1177/088626088003004003

59.

Richards

T. N.

Tillyer

M. S.

Wright

E. M.

(2019). When victims refuse and prosecutors decline: Examining exceptional clearance in sexual assault cases. Crime & Delinquency, 65(4), 474–498. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128719828351

60.

Riedel

Boulahanis

J. G.

(2007). Homicides exceptionally cleared and cleared by arrest: An exploratory study of police/prosecutor outcomes. Homicide Studies, 11, 151–164. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088767907300747

61.

Robinson

A. L.

Chandek

M. S.

(2000). The domestic violence arrest decision: Examining demographic, attitudinal and situational variables. Crime & Delinquency, 46, 18–37. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128700046001002

62.

Russell

(2018). Police perceptions in intimate partner violence cases: The influence of gender and sexual orientation. Journal of Crime and Justice, 41(2), 193–205. https://doi.org/10.1080/0735648X.2017.1282378

63.

Scott

T. L.

Strom

K. J.

Planty

(2021). Using National Incident-Based Reporting System data to assess agency differences in clearance rates: A recommendation for law enforcement, Police Practice and Research. 23(4), 444–457. https://doi.org/10.1080/15614263.2021.2022480

64.

Smith

D. A.

(1987). Police response to interpersonal violence: Defining the parameters of legal control. Social Forces, 65(3), 767–782. https://doi.org/10.2307/2578527

65.

Snijders

Bosker

(2012). Multilevel analysis: An introduction to basic and advanced multilevel modeling (2nd ed.). Sage.

66.

Spohn

Tellis

(2010). Justice denied? The exceptional clearance of rape cases in Los Angeles. Albany Law Review, 74, 1379–1422.

67.

Tatum

K. M.

Pence

(2015). Factors that affect the arrest decision in domestic violence cases. Policing (Bradford, England), 38(1), 56–70. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-07-2014-0075

68.

Venema

R. M.

Lorenz

Sweda

(2021). Unfounded, cleared, or cleared by exceptional means: Sexual assault outcomes from 1999 to 2014. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(19-20), NP10688–NP10719. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260519876718

69.

Visher

(1983). Gender, police arrest decisions, and notions of chivalry. Criminology: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 21, 5–28.

70.

Walfield

(2016). When a cleared rape is not cleared: A multilevel study of arrest and exceptional clearance. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 31(9), 1767–1793. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260515569062

71.

Worden

R. E.

Pollitz

A. A.

(1984). Police arrests in domestic disturbances: A further look. Law and Society Review, 18, 105–119. https://doi.org/10.2307/3053482