Law Enforcement and Domestic Violence in Pennsylvania

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Recommended: Probable cause arrests in domestic violence

Section 2711 of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code, entitled probable cause

arrests in domestic violence cases, subsection (a) states that a

police officer shall have the same right of arrest without a warrant

as in a felony whenever he has probable cause to believe the defendant

has violated section 2504 (relating to involuntary manslaughter), 2701

(relating to simple assault), 2702(a)(3), (4) and (5) (relating to

aggravated assault), 2705 (relating to recklessly endangering another

person), 2706 (relating to terroristic threats) or 2709.1 (relating to

stalking) against a family or household member although the offense

did not take place in the presence of the police officer. A police

officer may not arrest a person pursuant to this section without first

observing recent physical injury to the victim or other corroborative

evidence. Under title 23 §6102 a “family or household member” can be

spouses or persons who have been spouses, persons living as spouses or

who have lived as spouses, parents and children, other persons related

by consanguinity or affinity, current or former sexual or intimate

partners or persons who share biological parenthood.

The sections that a law enforcement agent could arrest for were not

all the ones stated above; back in 1989 they could only arrest without

a warrant for sections 2504, 2701, and 2705. The statute was then

added to in 1998 because of the court case Cronin v. West Whiteland

Tp. The police received a 911 phone call stating that a domestic

disturbance was in progress and immediate response was necessary.

Upon entering the kitchen police observed “the defendant had been

holding a knife… the kitchen was in state of disarray, defendant had

bleeding scratch and wife had a cut on hand.” (Purdon’s, 166). Also

in 1989 in addition to what sections officers could arrest for they

also had to “observe recent physical injury or other corroborative

evidence and the victim is a spouse of the suspect or a person with

whom the suspect resides or has formally resided with.” (Zimmerman,

30).

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