PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Rebecca Stewart
Telephone: 513-479-3335
Email: info@EndToDV.org
Law Enforcement Needs to End the Over-Arrest of Black Men, Discontinue Use of ‘Predominant Aggressor’ Policies
WASHINGTON / January 17, 2022 – Even though Black men are more likely than Black women to be victims of partner abuse, Black men are four times more likely to be arrested for domestic violence. In observance of Martin Luther King Day, the Coalition to End Domestic Violence calls on law enforcement to curtail the over-arrest of Black men in domestic violence cases.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, each year (1):
- Black male victims: 1,476,000
- Black female victims: 1,283,000
But according to the Department of Justice, 81% of persons arrested for domestic violence are male (2). This means there is more than a four-fold difference in the number of male vs. female African-Americans arrested for domestic violence each year: https://endtodv.org/black-men/
- Black male arrestees: 27,031
- Black female arrestees: 6,341
These numbers reveal a failure to assure “equal treatment under law,” as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.
The cause of the over-arrest of Black men is the widespread use of so-called “predominant aggressor” policies. Such policies instruct police officers to arrest the bigger and stronger party, not the person who struck the first blow. These policies are analyzed in a recent report by the CEDV (3).
Research by Dr. Emily Douglas of Montclair State University reveals that when male victims report the incident to law enforcement, 26% of these men were the person who was arrested, not the actual abuser (4). One such person was Carl Starling of Maryland. When Starling called the police to protect him from his wife’s physical abuse, the police ended up arresting him. During the subsequent trial, Starling was found innocent of all charges (5).
To honor the legacy of Dr. King, law enforcement personnel are urged to stop using biased and unconstitutional predominant aggressor policies, and cease the over-arrest of Black men.
Citations:
- Centers for Disease Control, https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs-statereportbook.pdf Tables 5.3 and 5.6.
- https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/fvs.pdf ,Table 5.9.
- https://endtodv.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Predominant-Aggressor-Mass-Inceration.pdf
- When Male Targets of Domestic Violence Seek Help. July 20, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkbZ5l4DfjQ
- https://endtodv.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Complaint-of-Ethical-and-Prosecutorial-Misconduct-1.5.2022.pdf