Investigation of the Response by Officers of the Webster City Police Department to a Domestic Violence Call

• NCJ Number: 134018
• Author(s): W P Angrick II
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 38 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Sent to Chief Michael G. Petricca and Senior Officer Kenneth Aldridge, Webster City Police Department, re case number 91-065.

Annotation

This report describes the response of two officers officers from the Webster City (Iowa) Police Department to an incident of domestic violence.

Abstract

This investigative report, submitted by the Citizen's Aide/Ombudsman, includes the testimony and cross-examination of the two responding officers and the Webster City Chief of Police. The investigation was initiated to determine whether the officers had acted in a reasonable manner to fulfill the provisions of Iowa's Domestic Abuse Act, which was legislated to remove police officers' discretion to handle domestic assault cases as they see fit. According to the report findings, the police department acted neither reasonably nor with serious regard for the effects of domestic abuse by failing to arrest the assailant immediately, failing to remove the assault weapons from the home, and failing to take the children into protective custody. The Ombudsman recommends that police training in the area of domestic assault be enhanced by bringing in experts from outside the law enforcement community. 2 appendixes