Gabby Petito needed help. Instead, police dismissed her. quasimado writes on why cops are not the best people to intervene in domestic-violence incidents
Photo: Octavio Jones/Getty Images Weeks before Gabby Petito, a #vanlife influencer on a cross-country road trip, was reported missing, and before her remains were discovered in a national forest in Wyoming, the 22-year-old found herself crying uncontrollably in the back of a police car. On August 12, she and her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, had fought in front of a grocery store in Moab, Utah. A concerned bystander called 911 to report a domestic dispute after witnessing Laundrie strike Petito.
Utah is one of 22 states with legislation that requires officers to arrest someone when responding to reports of domestic violence, as long as certain conditions are met. Mandatory arrest laws, as they’re called, first appeared in the 1980s, and were pushed by women’s rights advocates as a way to force law enforcement to take domestic violence seriously.
Faced with this evidence, the police officers discuss what they must do. As one cop explains to Laundrie, “one of the things that the state legislature doesn’t give us discretion on is charges when it comes to a domestic assault.” Because Laundrie is the one with visible injuries — the scratches — the officer concludes that he is the victim. Petito, then, is the aggressor.
Ultimately, police declined to charge Petito with domestic battery, determining that she did not intend to cause physical harm. Still, the spectre of jail time and potential prosecution hung over the entire incident. “It shows just how perfect of a victim you have to be for anyone to take you seriously. Because young and pretty and white didn’t do it for her here, because there were injuries on him, because she was kind of a mess when they came,” Goodmark says.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Gabby Petito Case Live Updates: Amazon started selling Gabby Petito merchandise before her body was foundA search is underway for Gabby Petito's boyfriend after a body that police believe is hers was found at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Follow Newsweek's liveblog for all the latest.
Read more »
Gabby Petito Case Updates: Family lawyer confirms Gabby Petito's remains found in WyomingGabby Petito Case Live Update — The body discovered Sunday in a Wyoming forest was confirmed to belong to Gabby Petito, a lawyer for the family told Insider Tuesday. Follow our gabbypetito live blog:
Read more »
Gabby Petito autopsy: Coroner identifies body as hers, cause of death a homicideA coroner in Wyoming confirmed Tuesday that the body found in Grand Teton National Park over the weekend was that of the missing 22-year-old, and said the initial cause of death is homicide.
Read more »
Coroner IDs remains, says Gabby Petito was homicide victimNORTH PORT, Fla. (AP) — Gabby Petito was killed by another person, a coroner concluded while also confirming that the human remains found recently at a Wyoming national park were those of the 22-year-old woman who disappeared months after she set out on a cross-country road trip with her boyfriend, the FBI said Tuesday.
Read more »
Prosecutors Waiting in Gabby Petito Homicide, Loose Ends Involving Brian LaundrieGabby Petito's death has put her fiance, Brian Laundrie, in the crosshairs of law enforcement, but TMZ has learned prosecutors are not making a move until 2 primary loose ends are tied up.
Read more »
Autopsy scheduled for body thought to be Gabby Petito; fiance still missingMedical examiners in North Port, Florida, were scheduled to conduct an autopsy on Tuesday on a body found in Wyoming, seeking to determine if it is Gabby Petito, the 22-year-old 'van life' traveler whose disappearance has gripped Americans.
Read more »