In recent years, while advocates have cried for stronger action against male abusers, arrests of women have skyrocketed. It is being associated with co-combat. Any evidence that a woman has committed any kind of a physical act is frequently resulting in her arrest. But for police, the situation poses a quandary. From the time they are rookies, law enforcement officers are taught that domestic violence calls are the riskiest they will face.
Emotions are high, alcohol is often involved and safety is an officer's primary concern.
According to a report issued by the state Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training, more than one-quarter of California's 31 officer deaths during the first half of this decade came during domestic violence calls. Faced with the potential for continued violence and a law that requires officers to arrest domestic batterers, many officers were arresting both halves and leaving a prosecutor to figure out who to charge. But according to one advocate in Yolo County, many officers still are unwilling to make a decision at the scene. Victims also complain their abusers have become much more legally savvy and are demanding their partners be arrested as well. When evidence is ambiguous, said Jean Jordan, executive director of the Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Center in Woodland, officers won't push to find a main aggressor.