Pros And Cons Of Mandatory Charge Policy

203 Words1 Pages
According to the Ontario Policing Standard Manual, the mandatory charge policy procedures should provide that in all domestic violence occurrences an officer is to lay a charge where there are reasonable grounds to do so (Johnson, 1996). The policy emphasizes that a decision to lay charges should not be influenced by the factors such as marital status/cohabitation of the parties, previous records, unwillingness to cooperate, and the concern about reprisal against the victim by the suspect (MacLeod, 1995). Some of the assumptions of the mandatory charge provide that the arrest of abusers in all cases, irrespective of victim preferences and knowledge is considered to be essential for safety, and charging is seen as essential to enforcing