Passing of domestic violence bills could set NH back 40 years

(FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - New Hampshire currently has the strongest set of domestic violence laws in the country; however, that could all change. Lawmakers held a hearing on Thursday which focused on two bills that would drastically scale back the domestic violence laws currently in place.

One of the bills being considered is House Bill 1581 which would prevent law enforcement from being able to immediately arrest an abuser who has assaulted his or her partner unless the officer has actually witnesses the crime take place. Under the current law, the police can arrest an abuser based on probable cause.

New Hampshire’s law enforcement community, including the Dept. of Safety, Attorney General’s office, and Chiefs of Police Association, and domestic violence workers are against the passing of this bill.

Timothy Russell, a retired Police Chief from Henniker, told FOX 25 about the process that would need to be taken if the bill is passed.

“We would have to go back to the police station, sit down, do a complaint warrant and affidavit, find a judge or justice of the peace, and get them to sign it, and go back and try to get the abuser,” says Russell.

Some law enforcement leaders say the legislation would set them back.

“It’s taken twelve years to at least get on the books what we have, which is a model for the rest of the nation,” says Franklin Police Chief David Goldstein, “And this proposed legislation would in fact send us back to the 1970’s which in domestic violence terms would be the Stone Age.”

Amanda Grady of the New Hampshire Coalition against Domestic Violence says she has never seen a bill so directly aimed at dismantling the domestic violence statute.

However, the bill’s sponsor says that dismantling the statute is not his intention.

“It’s clear if a police officer sees somebody robbing a bank they ought to be able to arrest them,” says Representative Dan Itse, “Our Constitution is clear. You have to prove to an objective party, a judge, that there is reasonably cause that there is warrant for arrest.”

Lawmakers are also considering House Bill 1608 which limits the grounds for which an officer can arrest an abuser who violates a domestic violence protective order.

According to the Huffington Post, state statistics show 38 percent of homicides in 2011 were domestic violence-related, and the vast majority of domestic violence cases were perpetrated by men again women.