Police have been making more arrests in domestic violence incidents. In 2000, about 50 percent of intimate partner violence cases1 resulted in arrests, compared to 7 to 15 percent in the 1970s and 1980s. Research has revealed that some aspects of the change cause problems: too many victims are arrested and too few cases are accepted by prosecutors. The problem appears to arise in part from the practice of dual arrests - situations in which police arrest both parties involved in the altercation rather than trying to identify the primary aggressor. About 2 percent of domestic violence incidents result in dual arrests.
