In 2015, South Carolina passed the Domestic Violence Reform Act giving officers increased arrest discretion and rescinding mandatory arrest laws for intimate partner violence (IPV). Analyses using incident reports (2016/2017) from South Carolina show that officers primarily rely on the presence of five variables to determine arrest: children, injury, property destruction, offender at scene, and weapons. Cases with Black female victims are more likely to result in arrest, suggesting that Black males are being criminalized. We conclude that officers are reluctant to use individual discretion and rely on a form of structured discretion provided by administrators that shapes local culture and decision-making.

2015 年，南卡罗来纳州通过了《家庭暴力改革法案》，赋予警察更大的逮捕自由裁量权，并废除了针对亲密伴侣暴力 (IPV) 的强制性逮捕法。使用来自南卡罗来纳州的事件报告 (2016/2017) 进行的分析表明，警察主要依靠五个变量来确定逮捕：儿童、伤害、财产破坏、现场罪犯和武器。黑人女性受害者的案件更有可能导致逮捕，这表明黑人男性正在被定罪。我们得出的结论是，官员不愿使用个人酌处权，而是依赖行政人员提供的一种结构化的酌处权形式，这种形式可以塑造当地文化和决策。