Overachieving I guess...

Because, only I could be out on medical leave and STILL arrest someone...

Had a case in domestic court this week, where history repeated itself. The young lady of the couple has a bad habit of once her husband gets to court on an assault charge changing her story. To the tune of this has happened a number of times in a very short period.

So - he beats her up, we go out there & deal with things, take him to jail - then when the case gets in front of the judge, it never happened, or it didn't happen that way, and he walks out free to do things again.

I don't often get on my domestic abuse soapbox here, since it's pretty much the same attitude as most people - I don't have any tolerance for men who beat their wives (or vice versa), and I fully support changes in the law which took away the bad former habit a lot of departments had of letting these things sort themselves out as normal spousal troubles...

But as a cop it gets incredibly frustrating to deal with the same couples again and again, because "this time he changed, "he didn't mean to hit me," "but I love him," and all the other excuses people trapped in these relationships make. Yes, I understand the cycle of abuse. Yes, I know it can be hard to walk away, especially after years together, or with kids, or what have you. But I also know of the resources available for help, of the fact we make SURE the victims know about and are contacted by some of these support systems, and even by the speeches I've given reminding them that it will only happen again. Only to, once again, arrest someone for beating up the people who trust them most & then watching it all go nowhere...

Anyway, back to the point of the story...

So yet again we are playing that same music and dancing the same steps in this particular case. But instead of the normal "I don't remember what really happened" or other vague excuses, this girl looks at the judge under oath and testifies that she deliberately lied to us, that she wrote a false statement and all of that. Which means (since I also was lucky enough to have a prosecutor who brought along his integrity and backbone to the courtroom), that we charge her with filing a false police report.

The bad part is - I KNOW he assaulted her - I know the report was true... but nothing is getting through to this lady on the situation she is in, because every time he promises to change she is believing it & because she has her head wrapped around all his bullshit. So, maybe now that she is seeing other consequences, she will reconsider what to do with all this stuff...

So yep - I get an arrest with minimal work on a day off - but it's not one I'm exactly proud of & I wish there was a better solution to things...