I am going to apologize ahead of time because they am going to use this post to reply to all the replies I've gotten, mist in the previous thread.
You are right there was wrong on both sides in the argument. She might have been provoked which is one of the reasons they didn't arrest her.
My post wasn't about whether or not I thought they had toxic relationship, it was about, with the facts known at the time and three different ENT people's statements, what should the cops had done differently? For example, arrest her, arrest him, arrest them both. Or like crimedawg said, follow her to her campsite to be sure of her safety.
Concerning how the cop talked to BL. That would look bad if it was friends hanging out on the corner, but as an interrogation method I thank he did a brilliant job. If he had come on strong or "in a professional manner" BL would have clammed up or taken a more defensive posture in his statements. The LE loosened him up and then kept popping up with non-sequenter qu still s to surprise him into honest answers. And the LE did ask him about the slapping the incident multiple times in that method and each time BL indicated (smoothly in that practiced of art manner) that he was just pushing her away when she was slapping at him. I actually thought he tried not to state that she was slapping at him to protect her from legal repercussions.
And about GP hitting BL. I sometimes wonder if we are all watching the same video. She clearly states she slapped him at the moonflower incident. He had marks all over his face (as she might have as well). She clearly said she hit his arm which made him swerve. And another time she said she was hitting him to tell him he was being pulled over. I didnt think there was any question about how much she was hitting him I thought the question was why and if she was doing it in self defense.
And yes I think he was emotionally abusing her. That's morally wrong, but not supporting her YouTube dream or telling her to calm down isn't illegal in the same way as threatening her life might be
I could say more but that would be pointless. Minds are made up here and the hey aren't changing. But I will reask the question. No matter how the investigation went how should the stop ended. Her arr ever, him arrested both arrested or just like it was
Many suggestions have now been made about what else could be done.
Why weren't the officers working to be relatable to Gabby as well?
They were trying to de-escalate only, having determined that this was just a volatile young couple including a dramatic, draining girl and her boyfriend who lost patience with her but was doing the best he could given "crazy chick"...that is the only explanation for ignoring the following in the context of a physical, violent interaction reported and witnessed by several people including LE:
- Both of them have visible scratches and redness. red flag
- Both admit to having put hands on the other. red flag
- He downplays what he did even while admitting it red flag
- She throws herself under the bus - not just for the physical violence, but also how it was her fault that he got mad at her. [clear sign of warped thinking, and not contradicted by him, confirming a strange dynamic] red flag
- She was seen hanging out of the van window (or whatever - that he locked her out). (iirc) red flag
- She stated she was scared he was going to drive off without her. red flag
- Based on general knowledge about reasonable safety concerns for a young woman (a small one, too, clearly not from there), you know that it is reasonable to be afraid of being left alone in that position. And as above, he has already locked her out/threatened to leave her behind. So this is a guy who has deliberately behaved in a way to frighten his girlfriend, both emotionally and physically. From this, you are looking at a guy who would choose to make his girlfriend afraid for her safety. red flag
- He drove very fast in a place he didn't know, while having a physical fight. (dangerous behavior) red flag
But LE decided to ignore all of those flags, as well as basic information about domestic violence, including common behaviors of abusers and victims.
LE approaches to DV can make a huge difference. If this were a couple residing in a town, historical police records that are
accurate can support arrest/incarceration, ideally before a death. Better and more intense support and encouragement could be offered to victims, especially repeat victims. Sussing the real story and offering support to the
real victim can be enough to prompt a victim to leave/seek help. Time in jail for an abuser can flip on a lightbulb about how far the relationship has fallen away from normal or healthy.
I don't want my LE to shrug their shoulders when it comes to violence,
especially the kind of violence that, more than any other kind, thrives behind closed doors. It requires a harder look.