What Happens When Police Respond to a Domestic Call in Michigan

When Michigan police respond to a domestic call, they investigate what happened, decide whether there is cause to arrest anyone, give the person identified as the victim a written notice of rights, and write a domestic violence report that goes to the prosecuting attorney.^[1][2][3][5] Those last two steps are required whether or not anyone is arrested.^[3][4][8]

If you are in danger now, call 911. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is free, confidential and open 24/7 at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), or text START to 88788.^[9] Local options are listed in Where to get help in West Michigan.

What are officers there to do?

The Michigan Court of Appeals has said that officers responding to a domestic dispute are obligated to investigate potential domestic violence. In City of Westland v Kodlowski, officers had entered with both occupants' consent on a domestic dispute call, and the court held that one occupant's later withdrawal of consent to their presence did not stop them from continuing to investigate.^[1][10] The decision was later vacated in part and reversed in part on other grounds.^[1] When and how officers can come inside is covered in Can police come into the house without a warrant?

What officers do next is shaped by their own department's written policy. Each police agency in Michigan must have written policies for officers responding to domestic violence calls, and those policies must reflect that domestic violence is criminal conduct.^[11] Among other things, the policy has to cover emergency assistance to victims, including medical care, transportation to a shelter, or staying at the scene for a reasonable time until, in the officer's reasonable judgment, the likelihood of further imminent violence has been eliminated.^[8] The policy must be in writing and available to the public on request, so anyone can ask a local department for a copy.^[8]

What do officers ask and record at the scene?

The statutes do not script the interviews. They do say what the officer's report has to capture, and that list is a guide to the questions people are likely to be asked.

Under MCL 764.15c(4), the domestic violence report must contain, among other things:^[4]

• The address, date and time of the incident, and who called the police.^[4]
• Identifying details for the victim, the suspect and the witnesses, including any child of either person who witnessed the incident.^[4]
• The relationship between the victim and the suspect, and whether alcohol or drugs were involved and by whom.^[4]
• A brief narrative describing the incident and the circumstances that led to it.^[4]
• Whether and how many times the suspect physically assaulted the victim, and a description of any weapon or object used.^[4]
• A description of all injuries the victim sustained, an explanation of how they were sustained, and medical treatment details.^[4]
• Property damage, and a description of any previous domestic violence incidents between the two people.^[4]

What people say at this stage can become evidence. Miranda warnings are required only for custodial interrogation, and the Miranda decision itself says that general on-the-scene questioning about the facts surrounding a crime is not affected by its holding.^[12][13] A separate Michigan statute, MCL 768.27c, lets certain statements made to a law enforcement officer about the infliction or threat of physical injury be admitted in a domestic violence case.^[14][15] Both subjects are covered in Talking to the police: your rights at the scene and after and Statements to police under MCL 768.27c.

How do officers decide whether to arrest?

Domestic assault has its own arrest statute. Under MCL 764.15a, an officer may arrest for domestic assault or aggravated domestic assault without a warrant, and without having witnessed it, if the officer has reasonable cause to believe the violation occurred or is occurring and that the suspect is the victim's spouse or former spouse, has or had a dating relationship with the victim, has had a child in common with the victim, or lives or has lived in the same household.^[2][16]

The statute says "may arrest."^[2] But agency policy must emphasize that, in most circumstances, an officer should arrest and take a person into custody when the officer has probable cause to believe the person is committing or has committed domestic violence and the conduct is a crime.^[11] Policy must also say that the arrest decision should not be based solely on whether the victim consents to a later prosecution or on the relationship of the people involved, and that a decision not to arrest should not be based solely on the absence of visible injury.^[17]

Two neighboring guides go further: Is arrest mandatory in Michigan? and, for scenes where each person accuses the other, When both people are arrested.

What happens if someone is arrested?

A domestic violence arrest is handled differently from most misdemeanor arrests in two ways.^[6][7]

Question	Most misdemeanor arrests	Domestic assault arrests
Can police issue an appearance ticket and release the person?	Generally yes; for many lower-level misdemeanors a ticket and release is required[18]	No. An appearance ticket must not be issued.[6]
Can the person post an interim bond at the station or jail?	Yes, if a magistrate is not available[19]	No. The person is held until arraignment or until a judge or district court magistrate sets interim bond.[7]

How long that takes, and why the often-repeated "20-hour hold" is not in the statute, is explained in How long are you held after an arrest?^[20]

What must police give the victim?

After investigating or intervening in a domestic violence incident, a peace officer must give the victim a written notice. It must include the name and telephone number of the responding police agency, the name and badge number of the responding officer, and a prescribed statement.^[3] That statement tells the victim:

• That a copy of the police incident report can be obtained by contacting the agency at the telephone number provided, and which domestic violence shelter program and other resources are available locally.^[21]
• That the victim has the right to go to court and petition for a personal protection order (PPO), with a list of conduct a PPO could restrain, such as entering onto premises, assaulting or threatening, and purchasing or possessing a firearm.^[21]
• That the victim may file a motion for an order to show cause and a hearing if the abuser is violating or has violated a PPO and has not been arrested.^[21]
• That a person who changes residence and wants the new address kept confidential may apply to the Department of Attorney General for the address confidentiality program.^[22]

A second set of information comes under the crime victim's rights laws. Within 24 hours after the first contact between the victim of a reported crime and the investigating agency, the agency must give the victim written information that includes how to ask to be notified of an arrest or of the arrested person's release.^[23] An officer or prosecutor may also pass the victim's contact information to a domestic or sexual violence service provider so it can offer support, and must tell the victim if that was done.^[24] See Crime victim rights in Michigan domestic violence cases and Personal protection orders explained.

What happens to the report afterward?

The law enforcement agency keeps the completed domestic violence report in its files and must file a copy with the prosecuting attorney within 48 hours after the incident is reported to the agency.^[5] These duties are tied to a "domestic violence incident," which the statute defines as an incident reported to a law enforcement agency involving allegations of a PPO violation or of a crime against a spouse, former spouse, co-parent, dating partner or household member.^[25] The definition is not limited to assault.^[25]

From there the decision belongs to the prosecutor, who alone has the authority to determine whether to prosecute.^[26] That is why charges can follow a call where no one was arrested. See Who decides whether charges are filed? and Charged later, by warrant or by mail. How to obtain the report is covered in How to get the police report and 911 recording.

Do officers run a risk or "lethality" screening?

The statutes cited in this guide do not require officers to run a risk or "lethality" screening at the scene; whether a department uses one is a matter of its own written policy, which is available on request.^[8] The sources behind this guide show risk assessment at a later step: the Domestic Violence Benchbook's advisory committee advises judges setting release terms to assess whether the defendant is likely to kill or seriously injure an intimate partner or other person, which it calls assessing "lethality factors."^[27]

What people get wrong

"If I tell the officers I do not want to press charges, they will leave." Officers are told not to base the arrest decision solely on the victim's consent to a later prosecution, and the report goes to the prosecutor either way.^[17][5]

"No marks, no arrest." Policy must say that the absence of visible injury is not, by itself, a reason not to arrest.^[17]

"They did not read me my rights, so nothing I said counts." Miranda warnings are tied to custodial interrogation, not to general questioning at the scene.^[12][13]

"Nobody was arrested, so it is over." A report is still written and still sent to the prosecutor within 48 hours.^[8][5]