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New York City Domestic Violence Investigation

A New York City domestic violence investigation typically follows any time there is an allegation of a family violence incident and somebody calls 911. It makes no difference whether it is the alleged victim or a neighbor who hears something and calls it in.

If it is not in response to a specific ongoing occurrence, an investigation will often include an assigned case detective taking in-depth interviews of complainants and anybody who the complainant indicates might have information.

They may also review allegations of domestic violence that happened in the past. Therefore, it can be critical to have an experienced family violence attorney who can advise you on what not to say when being interviewed.

Role of Law Enforcement in Family Violence Investigations

There is usually an attempt by the Detective to at least interview the suspect. They have the right to come into the Police Department or not to come in, depending on their preference, but, generally speaking, there is a lot of face-to-face questioning by the Detectives to determine what happened, when it happened, and what the extent of the situation was to make a determination on whether an arrest is appropriate.

How Might a Detective Try to Get a Statement?

If a detective invites someone to be questioned, they are almost always going to be placed under arrest, regardless of what they say. Detectives are simply looking for the individual to give them incriminating statements. However, an arrest can still be made despite how far the detective is in the New York City domestic abuse investigation.

Detectives, generally, are not actually interested in hearing the suspect’s side of the story or finding out their perspective or answering questions in a non-criminal way. They are there to elicit incriminating statements. Having an attorney at each stage of the investigation can help ensure that person does not make the mistake of talking too much.

Domestic Violence vs. Other Criminal Investigations

The main difference would be the types of evidence or the way that the detectives go about the investigation. A lot of what the Detectives do in these types of situations is talk to people. In other investigations they might be looking for actual physical evidence of criminal activity, whether it is contraband or documentary evidence, linking an individual to some illicit activity.

Before beginning the physical evidence portion of a domestic violence investigation in New York City, the police may want the individual to state what happened. Whether they can recover the weapon, these investigations are more dialogue-based.

Importance of Having an Attorney During a New York City Domestic Abuse Investigation

The most important reason is that a person who is accused of domestic violence can become their own worst enemy, and can provide the greatest pieces of evidence that the New York Police Department (NYPD) is able to find, by making statements or doing things that they do not realize are incriminatory.

If the charges are exaggerated or even flat out lies, people have the idea that the Detective wants to talk to them and hear their side of the story just to clear things up, this is almost uniformly not the case. Having an experienced domestic violence attorney with the charged person at all stages of the investigation is a great way to ensure that person does not unwittingly provide evidence against themselves to the NYPD. Our attorneys are here to help, so call today to get started.

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