PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Rebecca Stewart

Telephone: 513-479-3335

Email: info@EndToDV.org

Ignoring Science and the Constitution, Police Chiefs Push for Mass Incarceration of Black Men

WASHINGTON / September 28, 2021 – African-Americans experience the highest incarceration rates of any group in the United States (1). And the over-incarceration of Black men is recognized as a threat to fundamental notions of justice (2). A new report reveals that policies currently being promoted by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) are a major cause of the mass incarceration of men. Titled “Predominant Aggressor Policies and the Mass Incarceration of Men,” the report probes the predominant aggressor policies currently being advanced by the IACP.

The IACP predominant aggressor publications reveal pervasive sex bias. For example, the IACP’s “Intimate Partner Violence Response: Policy and Training Content Guidelines” (3) advises front-line police officers to evaluate whether there is a “physical size difference between the parties” in order to decide whether to arrest the male or female. This is likely to sway the officer’s decision to arrest the male, even if the female, who is physically smaller, initiated violence.

The IACP also has developed a training program on “Predominant Aggressor Determination” (4) that is even more biased:

  1. Instructs officers to assess the “Comparative height and weight” of the parties (Slide 38).
  2. Describes “Presence of calm” as an indication of “power and control” (Slide 10)
  3. Uses an implausible case example that reinforces the flawed “male-as-perpetrator, female-as-victim” stereotype (Slides 13-24)

According to the Department of Justice, 77% of persons arrested for domestic violence are male (5), even though scientific surveys reveal that each year, Black men are more likely than Black women to the victims of partner abuse (6):

  • Black men: 1.47 million victims
  • Black women: 1.38 million victims

The IACP recommendations openly violate Constitutional guarantees of equal treatment under the law:

  1. The Ms. Foundation for Women decries how the “Criminalization of social problems has led to mass incarceration of men, especially young men of color, decimating marginalized communities.” (7)
  2. One public policy group has sharply criticized the gender-profiling of men (8) and concludes that “Domestic violence policies have contributed significantly to increasing the number of persons living in violent places: prisons and jails.” (9)

The “Predominant Aggressor Policies and the Mass Incarceration of Men” report, written by the Coalition to End Domestic Violence, is available online: https://endtodv.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Predominant-Aggressor-Mass-Inceration.pdf

Links:

  1. Bureau of Justice Statistics (2021). Jail Inmates in 2019. https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/ji19_sum.pdf
  2. https://endtodv.org/black-men/
  3. International Association of Chiefs of Police (2017). Intimate Partner Response: Policy and Training Content Guidelines. Page 6. https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/all/i-j/IACPIntimatePartnerViolenceResponsePolicyandTrainingGuidelines2017.pdf
  4. International Association of Chiefs of Police (March 24, 2020). Predominant Aggressor Determination. https://www.rit.edu/fa/compliance/sites/rit.edu.fa.compliance/files/PredominantAggressorPresentation.PDF
  5. Durose MR et al. Family Violence Statistics. Washington, DC: Department of Justice. NCJ 207846, 2005. Table 5.9. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/fvs.pdf
  6. Centers for Disease Control, National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2010-2012 State Report. Tables 5.3 and 5.6. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/NISVS-StateReportBook.pdf
  7. Foundation for Women. Safety and Justice for All. New York, 2003, p. 17.
  8. Across Walls. Gender-Profiling Men for Arrest for Domestic Violence. https://www.acrosswalls.org/gender-profiling-men-arrests-domestic-violence/
  9. Communicating with Prisoners. Domestic Violence Policies Central to Mass Incarceration. https://www.acrosswalls.org/domestic-violence-policies-mass-incarceration/