Instead, they believed the politicians were making symbolic statements, expressing an ideal, or appearing to be tough on crime. Other laws may carry penalties that the police think are too severe. Police believe the community wants lenient or lax enforcement. The crime is common within a subcultural group, victims do not file complaints, witnesses refuse to testify, victim and offender are related, the victim is involved in misconduct, and the victim is more likely to get restitution without arrest. An arrest may cause loss of valuable public support or unduly harm someone's status in the community.
Police believe other duties are more urgent or important.
The officer goes off duty in ten minutes, the department has stopped subsidizing officers for court appearances, there's inadequate manpower for backup, and the police trade nonenforcement for other favors, deals, or to gain informants. This has been one area where police have been more than willing to ask social workers, social scientists, and academicians for help. Instead of just locking up husbands who beat their wives, the police have always appeared more interested in doing nothing, and more recently, experimenting with alternatives such as mediation, counseling, cooling-off periods, social service referrals. Hirschel et al. Interviews were then conducted with the victims six months later to see if any additional abuse occurred.