Police Attitudes Toward Preferred Arrest: Influences of Rank and Productivity

• NCJ Number: 141990
• Journal: American Journal of Police Volume: 11 Issue: 3 Dated: (1992) Pages: 35-52
• Author(s): W R Blount; B L Yegidis; R M Maheux
• Date Published: 1992
• Length: 18 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The attitudes of police officers working in a large urban Florida county toward a Preferred Arrest Policy for domestic violence incidents are described and analyzed in terms of the influence of rank and officer productivity. The law allows officers to arrest an offender without a warrant if an injunction for protection has been violated, or if the officer has probable cause to believe that battery has occurred or will occur unless an arrest is made.

Abstract

The sample for this survey consisted of 196 line officers and 54 supervisors employed by 2 large agencies, a medium- sized agency and a small agency. Two parallel questionnaires were used for the line officers and supervisors, focusing on attitudes associated with domestic violence in general and the Preferred Arrest Policy in particular. According to the results, line officers and supervisors shared a positive attitude toward the Preferred Arrest Policy, although officers actively making domestic violence arrests supported the policy even more strongly. Almost 90 percent of the sample was familiar with the arrest policy and thought it was effective. Most of the supervisors reported they encouraged implementation of the policy, and 77 percent of the officers concurred with that assessment. However, the respondents did not believe that the policy, as currently implemented, had succeeded in reducing repeat calls, physical injury, or the overall number of domestic violence calls. About a third of the officers interviewed felt the Preferred Arrest Policy had been effective in preventing family violence. Despite the officers' positive attitudes, the overall low arrest rate reported by the respondents indicated a lack of commitment on the part of a substantial proportion of the sample to intervene in domestic disputes. This may be partially attributed to ineffective prosecution of domestic assault cases. 6 tables and 13 references