The 5 question DV Call Card

The 5 Question DV Call Card Print this. Hand it to every cop. If they can't fill out five boxes, they shouldn't have a badge. 1. Have you been drinking or using drugs tonight? ☐ Yes ☐ No ☐ Refused 2. Do you remember everything that happened, or are there gaps? ☐ Remembers all ☐ Gaps ☐ Doesn't remember 3. Are you afraid of the other person right now? ☐ Yes ☐ No 4. Did you hit, push, or throw something at them first? ☐ Yes ☐ No 5. Show me your injuries. ☐ Visible injury ☐ No visible injury IF #1 = YES or #2 = GAPS/DON'T REMEMBER: Do not arrest anyone based on their story alone. Call a supervisor. Test both parties. Take photos. Do not guess. IF #4 = YES: They may be the aggressor. Investigate further. IF #3 = NO and #4 = YES: The "victim" may be the primary aggressor. Officer signature: ________________ Time: ________ Supervisor signature: ________________ --- Who to Send It To Your State Legislators (Highest Priority) Find your state representative and state senator. Submit this as a constituent legislative request. Ask them to introduce a bill requiring this card as mandatory protocol for all domestic violence calls. Your State POST Commission Every state has a Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) commission. They set training requirements for all officers. If the training doesn't include intoxication and memory reliability, the card is just paper. Submit your proposal to them directly. · California POST: complaintintake@post.ca.gov · For other states, search "[your state] POST commission contact" Your State Attorney General State AGs can conduct pattern-or-practice investigations into local police departments. Submit your story and the card. Find your state AG's contact at the National Association of Attorneys General website. IACP (International Association of Chiefs of Police) They write the model policies that departments adopt nationwide. Send the card to their policy team: Policy@theIACP.org NCADV (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence) They have lobbying power and existing relationships with legislators. Submit through their policy office: · Email: publicpolicy@ncadv.org · Phone: (202) 745-1211 · Address: 1633 Q Street NW, Suite 210, Washington, DC 20009 DOJ Civil Rights Division Submit for a pattern-or-practice investigation of your local department: · Online: civilrights.justice.gov · Phone: (202) 514-4609 · Mail: U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W., Washington, D.C. 20530 Your Local Police Chief and Sheriff Submit directly to their policy division. Departments can adopt these protocols voluntarily before statewide mandates. I Was the Victim. They Arrested Me. Five Questions Would Have Prevented It. Twenty-five years ago, my partner attacked me. She punched me 38 times. She trapped me in the bathroom. I moved her out of the doorway to escape. She got red marks on her arms from being moved. I got six broken ribs and two cracked clavicles. The police arrested me. They never Mirandized me. They never told me what I was charged with. They never asked her if she had been drinking. They never asked her if she remembered what happened. They never asked if she hit first. They never asked if she was actually afraid. They never documented my injuries. They completed 30% of the CDV checklist. The 30% that was geared toward convicting me. I have since learned that this is not an anomaly. It is a documented systemic failure. A 2022 peer-reviewed study found that "the police hold the narrative that only men are abusers" and that "the courts sided with the women's stories." The system does not ask the right questions. So I designed a card that forces them to. Five questions. One card. If the officer had used it, my case ends differently. This is what I am sending to my state legislators, my state POST commission, my Attorney General, the IACP, and the DOJ. If you are a male victim of domestic violence, this is what you can send too. The card is attached. The contacts are listed. Use them.