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Speak Up! - View Question #184 |
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Question: Can a police get in trouble for not taking notice to a abuse that is reported to them?
Answer: Arizona Law (ARS 13-3620(A)) requires peace officers, along with specified other people, to formally report abuse, sexual abuse, or neglect of a child either to a child protective organization or to the police, if there are reasonable grounds to believe that abuse has taken place. It the officer fails to make the required report when it should have been made, he or she can be charged with a class 1 misdemeanor. [ARS 13-3620(K)] Many police departments also have internal rules requiring such matters to be reported. In that case, failure to report could result in the officer being disciplined by his employer-agency.
Whether a specific instance of alleged abuse requires reporting is a judgment call on the part of the officer. Abuse is defined in ARS 8-201. Sometimes an officer won't make a report if the abuse appears to be a parent exercising reasonable parental discipline, for example. In other words. if the officer finds there are not reasonale grounds to believe the activity is actual abuse, then he may choose not to make a report. Later, if it turns out the officer was wrong, the officer could be subject to the disciplinary measures discussed in the first paragraph.
A class 1 misdemeanor is punishable by up to 6 months in jail and a fine up to $2500 plus specified surcharges on the fine.
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On 05/11/04
megan from AL said:
hey! i am 15 and my step mother hit me. so i left.. i came back about 3 hours later and she hit me again and again... i got fed up with it, because it is not the first time that she has ever beat me so i hit her back.. my dad threw me up against a wall and she called the police. they arrested me.. but did nothing to her.. i reported it and dhr got involved but they dropped the case.
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On 03/08/04
Victoria from AZ said:
WoW!!! THAT HAS gotta be illegal, my friend has been so abused that she is afraid in everything aand does not trust anyone! ARENT WE SUPPOSED TO FEL SAFE WHERE WE LIVE>?
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On 11/07/03
kristy from AZ said:
I have been physically abused all my life by my mother, as well as mentally and emotionally abused by my real father. I wish there was a way for teens to get legal help without consulting their parents. I've brought the law into my problems multiple times trying to get away from the harm being done, but they did nothing. They didn't even file a report when my mother threw me out the glass bedroom window of a 2 story apartment when i was 15. So tell me, when are they going to finally do something to STOP abuse, especially when your parents are good friends with the police!
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On 08/19/03
tamm from KY said:
that's a real problem...one of my friends was abused by his dad but he was friends with the police so no one did anything, but he kept pressing and eventully people listened - good luck if you do this and God help you
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On 05/10/03
sam from AZ said:
My father assulted me, and the officers that came to his house did nothing about it.
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