Criminal Charges / Crimes

In our legal system, there is usually not a way to report abuse to law enforcement without the abuser knowing. It could be possible that a victim making a police report can let the police know their safety concerns, and ask that they document the incident without talking to the accused. However, there’s no way to guarantee that the police would not question the person who caused the harm. If the police have probable cause to believe that a crime was committed, they have a duty to investigate, and that could include questioning the abuser. Also, there could be a mandatory arrest issue if there are bruises/visible injuries, which means the police would have to arrest the abuser. A victim could choose to speak with a domestic violence advocate [HYPERLINK] and make a safety plan before reporting to police if they want to alert law enforcement but also want to plan for how to stay safe if the police notify the abuser. Often filing a civil restraining order [HYPERLINK] is another way to stay safe but the abuser would definitely be notified once a petition is filed and have the right to appear in court.

[IF YOU THINK THE WRITER IS A MINOR, THIS COULD TRIGGER A MANDATORY ABUSE REPORT SO DON’T INCLUDE THIS: There could be other ways to document injuries in case the evidence is needed in the future if you decide not to go to the police or the courts. Getting checked out by a doctor could be a way to document what happened without alerting the abuser. A doctor could document any injuries and the victim’s statements about what happened and how they got the injuries in the person’s medical record. That record could likely be admitted into evidence in a later court proceeding if necessary.]

Lastly, taking photos of any injuries in a way that shows the date is another way to document injuries. Most phone cameras record the date a photo is taken or a person may take some of the photos while holding that day’s front page of the newspaper to show the date (and then save the newspaper). Or, a person can take the photos and then email them to themselves or to a trusted person so that the email clearly shows the date the photos were sent. A person might also want to make sure his/her face is visible in the picture along with showing the bruise or injury- so that the picture clearly identifies this person as the person who was injured.