More Arrests for Spouse Beatings: Results Disputed

Felony arrests for spouse beating have skyrocketed in Los Angeles under new police guidelines, drawing applause from some women’s groups but protests from police and prosecutors.

Law enforcement officials say they are being flooded with futile paper work that does little more than blot the reputations of otherwise law-abiding citizens.

The guidelines were worked out as part of the settlement last year of a class-action lawsuit against the city by three women who complained that police were reluctant to arrest wife-beaters.

Procedural guidelines drawn up by the department as part of the settlement require officers to make felony arrests in domestic violence cases even when injuries are minor and regardless of whether the victim wants the case prosecuted, said Sgt. Bob Canfield, an instructor in domestic violence at the LAPD Academy.

As a result, Canfield said, there were 917 felony arrests in domestic violence cases between January and April, a 718% increase over the same period last year.

The new policy pleased attorneys for the women who brought the lawsuit, who alleged that a police double standard led to arrests in most other battery cases but not in cases of domestic violence, leaving many women unprotected.

“It is our hope that this is going to be a very strong message, not only to the individual abuser but to society as well, that this is unacceptable behavior,” said Lora Weinroth, an attorney for the three plaintiffs.

“The message is: ‘Buster, you don’t do that sort of thing. We don’t approve of it.’ ” She added, however, that police may be overreacting to the terms of the settlement.

Some prosecutors and police are concerned that the policy, coupled with a recent amendment to the state Penal Code section on spouse abuse, is burdening police with paper work and needlessly subjecting minor offenders to the trauma of being jailed and left with a felony arrest record.

They contend that the guidelines limit police discretion, forcing officers to make arrests even when the injury is only a scratch. Police also say the guidelines prevent them from considering the likelihood of a successful prosecution or the possibility of a reconciliation between the man and woman.

The three female plaintiffs in the lawsuit, filed in 1979 by San Fernando Valley Neighborhood Legal Services and the Battered Women’s Legal Counseling Clinic, said they were beaten by their husbands on several occasions and, despite repeated calls to police, the men were never arrested. They alleged that police discouraged them from seeking criminal charges by saying it was a civil matter, or warning them that a jailed husband could lose his job and the family would have no income.

Lula Mae Thomas of North Hollywood, the first to seek legal action against the city and Police Department, alleged that between 1972 and 1979 she was assaulted at least 15 times by the father of her two children. Thomas said she called police after each beating but he was never arrested.

Becomes Class Action

The suit became a class action when two other San Fernando Valley women joined the litigation.

Under terms of the settlement, approved by the City Council last year, the Police Department agreed to treat victims of domestic violence the same as other battery victims.

The department’s 7,000 officers signed the agreement, and a manual titled “Standards and Procedures Regarding Domestic Violence” was circulated throughout the department earlier this year.

The crux of the issue lies in a section of the guidelines, which states in part: “When a California statute provides for alternative felony or misdemeanor charging . . . (officers) shall treat the domestic violence offense as a felony for arrest purposes, and book the suspect on the felony charge in the same manner as they would for similar or identical non-domestic violence offenses.”

Complicating the matter is state Penal Code Section 273.5, defining felony spouse abuse, which was amended last year to cover any injury “whether of a minor or serious nature, caused by a physical force.”

A Legal ‘Wobbler’

Section 273.5 cases are considered “wobblers” in law enforcement jargon, meaning charges can be filed either as misdemeanors or felonies. The decision is left to the arresting officer, detective supervisor and prosecutor.

In the past, police either made no arrests or treated such arrests as misdemeanors if the injury was not serious or the victim declined to prosecute.

But police say that because they fear that violating terms of the settlement could lead to additional litigation, they are now making far more felony arrests. They complain that this leads to time-consuming investigations for cases that are then turned over to the district attorney, despite the slim chance that the suspect will be prosecuted.

In addition, some prosecutors are irked at having to spend time reviewing cases they do not believe should have been dropped on their desks in the first place. If deputy district attorneys do not believe there is sufficient evidence to prosecute a spouse beating as a felony, they must either reject the case or send it to the city attorney’s office, where it can be prosecuted as a misdemeanor or dismissed.

“Look at this, a scratch on the stomach,” said a prosecutor, who asked to remain anonymous, of the evidence in a case he was given. “What am I doing with this? They (police) know better.”

Not Many Prosecuted

For example, of the 94 felony domestic violence arrests turned over to the district attorney’s branch office in Van Nuys so far this month, six resulted in felony prosecutions. Fifty-three were rejected and 35 were referred to the city attorney’s office.

The reduction of many felony arrests to misdemeanors is not unusual, noted Deputy City Atty. Alan Dahle. He said that about 85% of felony arrests for all crimes are eventually prosecuted as misdemeanors.

Police also charge that the new policy is detrimental to the victims and their families.

West Valley detectives cite as an example a married couple who got into an argument two weeks ago and began flailing at each other. When officers arrived at their Canoga Park home, the wife had a small cut on her knee and the husband had a scratch on his face.

Neither wanted the other arrested, police said. But they were handcuffed, arrested for felony spouse abuse and spent the night in the West Valley Division Jail.

A ‘Shoving Match’

“These are decent people,” said Lt. Bill Gaida. “Both are in their mid-30s, both have jobs and no prior arrests. They do some drinking and get into a fight, a shoving match, really.

“We arrest both of them. We take it to the D.A. and he rejects it. The city attorney also rejects it. No charges are filed. But they’ve got a felony arrest record.”

Attorney Weinroth said the problem is not with the new guidelines or the change in the Penal Code, but rather in the way they are being interpreted by police.

“The discretion is not, not , removed 100% from the police officer,” she said. “It is not true to say that the Thomas case mandates police to arrest under 273.5 when somebody has a teensy-weensy scratch. They must behave in cases of domestic violence, batteries and assaults as they do in all batteries and assaults, and that’s it.

“The plaintiffs’ concern was with cases in which the police did nothing at all or so little that it was ridiculous. In the LAPD, it was a matter of the highest policy and practice to do nothing.”

Weinroth said she is not greatly concerned that cases of domestic violence are rarely prosecuted because of a husband or wife’s unwillingness to testify. She said a recent Minneapolis study of domestic violence showed that “the single most meaningful deterrent was the arrest, not the prosecution.”

Matter of Resentment

Police may be overreacting because they resented the settlement, she added. “Perhaps they’re going just a little bit overboard because nobody likes to be told what to do,” Weinroth said.

But Dahle, the deputy city attorney, speculated that police handling domestic violence cases worry about their responsibility under the terms of the settlement.

“They’re just trying to cover themselves,” Dahle said. “The officer doesn’t want to make the decision so he leaves it up to the sergeant. The sergeant doesn’t want to make it, so he leaves it up to the lieutenant and the lieutenant says, ‘To heck with it. Let’s dump it in the D.A.’s lap.’ ”

LAPD Operations Cmdr. Keith Allen said the department this month will review the handling of domestic violence arrests and consider whether the current policy should be changed.