Criminal Charges / Crimes

Often, when the police are not responding to reports of domestic violence or another crime, a victim may be able to “escalate” the complaint. This is when a victim works his/her way up the chain of command within the police precinct until someone takes the necessary action. The positions within the police hierarchy may be called different names depending on the state’s police force. Often, above a police officer is a sergeant, lieutenant, captain, and chief. Again, there may be more positions in between those or they may be called something different depending where a person is from. Keeping records of each person spoken to, the time/date, and what they say/do can be useful to try to make out a case that nothing is being done.

Sometimes having a professional (an attorney or a domestic violence advocate) with the victim who has regularly dealt with the local police can help. A professional may know a specific person to contact at the police department who cares about domestic violence. The police may even be more responsive if there is a professional involved. Also, in some states, there may be a specific “domestic violence unit” within the police or at least one domestic violence officer who hopefully may be more knowledgeable about domestic violence. Perhaps the victim may be able to deal with that domestic violence officer if there is one.

You can find free and paid lawyers in STATE on our website. You can also find advocates in STATE on our website.

Also, often when the police are not acting on a criminal complaint, a person may be able to go directly to the prosecutor’s office. Usually, when a person files a report with the police, the police are supposed to pass whatever information they have along to the prosecutor’s office when they have probable cause to believe a crime has been committed. Depending on the person’s area, the prosecutor may be called the “district attorney” or the “county attorney.”

The prosecutor’s office then decides if there’s enough evidence to bring the case in front of a judge and prosecute. Sometimes, when a criminal case isn’t going forward, it’s because the police aren’t passing the information along to the prosecutors, or they’re not passing the right information along. In some cases, the prosecutor’s office is choosing not to go forward. For example, they might believe there’s not enough evidence to move forward. Sometimes if a victim speaks to the prosecutor and shows the evidence that s/he has along with the records of police inaction, s/he can see if the prosecutor may be willing to get involved. Another possible similar outlet may be going to the US Attorney’s office or the attorney general of that state if a person feels that the prosecutor is failing to reasonably act. However, you may want to get legal advice on whether either of these legal offices may be appropriate to go to in your state and based on your situation.

[THIS IS ONLY IF IT’S ABOUT A VIOLATION OF AN RO: Also, another option that a petitioner may have if a respondent is violating a civil protection order is to file for “contempt of court.” Contempt of court is generally when a person fails to follow a court order, like a protection order. You can see more about what someone can do when an abuser violates a protection order on our website. (HYPERLINK TO “What do I do if the abuser violates the order”)

Having a lawyer to represent a petitioner on the contempt motion or violation petition may be helpful. If the defendant is violating a criminal court order, a victim may want to directly contact the prosecutor’s office and talk to the district attorney on the case to report it to him/her to see if the DA can act even if the police aren’t. Again, you can find lawyers in STATE on our website. (HYPERLINK)