Last night I was finishing up a report on an incident earlier this week. I was called out to the emergency room at a local hospital to take report on a lady whose boyfriend had beat the living s**t out of her with a cricket paddle. After taking all the information I urged the lady to go to the station and file an affidavit against this guy so we could arrest him, but she swore up and down that he was gone for good. In all actuallity he skipped town long enough for the 12 hours to pass (by law we’ve got 12 hours to do a warrentless arrest for domestic battery type calls). Now that guy is back and the lady is again stuck in her home afraid to leave and not allowed to have contact with family or friends.
While I was completing the paperwork on this, a young man of 14 runs into the police department saying that his stepdad was beating his mom. We hurried back to his house (about 3 miles from the station) and spoke with the parties involved. But, because of the factors invovled, we were unable to arrest this guy either.
In cases like this I wish the law permitted more officer discretion or something. I often pray for these people after I leave the scene, but I wish there was more I could do.
