Thread by @quasimado

A morning thread on policing, domestic violence and criminal justice reform, re my latest story:

bit.ly/30eLMSS

There is a long history of lawmakers exploiting women's victimization to expand the criminal justice system and stymie reform.

Fetal rights laws, for example were passed in the wake of horrific murders of pregnant women, often domestic violence victims. While designed ostensibly to 'protect' women, they've been used against them when they miscarry or have an abortion.

I think of President Trump using the murder of Kate Steinle to push racist, immigration policies. I think of Laci Peterson's law.

I think of VAWA, which was passed as part of the 1994 crime bill and is often trotted out as the reason the legislation was not so bad. We helped women, you see.

Recently, lawmakers have used fears over women's safety to oppose criminal justice reform efforts such as bail reform.

The underlying premise here is that the criminal justice system protects domestic violence victims and prevents their harm. But is that true?

I've been interviewing domestic violence victims and their families since 2014 (you can see my very first story on the subject here: bit.ly/2UbDIhN) Over and over, they speak of frustration with the police and the criminal justice system intended to support them.

We can't talk about #DefundThePolice or police reform without grappling with domestic violence.

Cops respond to DV calls more than any other type of call. It is a massive component of policing.

But cops are often ill-equipped to handle such cases. Real talk, many victims of DV do not want their partners arrested, let alone incarcerated.

The criminal justice system is violent. It brutalizes people. Many people do not want to see their partners, their family members, sent into that system.

For many victims, calling the police is simply not an option. Women of color, immigrant families, people with substance abuse issues, why would they open their doors to a system that may further abuse them?

You call the cops, you risk getting shot, risk your partner being incarcerated, risk being arrested yourself, risk your kids being taken by the state.

And so you opt out.

Only 45 percent of known DV incidents were reported to police in 2018.

Not to mention that police, themselves, commit domestic abuse. They're trained to use various forms of violence to control others. That is... how domestic violence works. (My feature w/ @dliebelson on this topic: bit.ly/3cFOnrt )

Also: victims of DV often end up in the criminal justice system themselves after being failed by police. (Read what happened to Bresha Meadows: bit.ly/2BiSB85)

There's too much to say in a thread, which is why I wrote a story - read it! bit.ly/30eLMSS

But to sum up: The police response to DV is broken. Many advocates agree w/ the #DefundPolice folks: move $$ away from policing & into community response.

And please, please don't exploit domestic violence victims to shut down conversations around police reform.

They need it more than ever.

~the end~