Michigan Domestic Violence Arrest Policy - Officers Immune From It?

FIREFIGHTER DANIEL ARMITAGE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ASSAULT [VIDEOS]:
http://michiganoidv.blogspot.com/2012_01_01_archive.html

FIREFIGHTER DANIEL ARMITAGE [NEWSPAPER ARTICLES]:
http://michiganoidv.blogspot.com/2012/01/firefighter-daniel-armitage-ann-arbor_01.html



On January 01, 2012, Bloomfield Township police officers received and responded to a domestic violence call at the residence of Firefighter Daniel Armitage and his wife.






The injuries Armitage's wife suffered during the assault were severe enough that she was transported to the hospital....where she remained for several days. The news reported that she was on a venilator, at one point.






THE BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP POLICE DEPARTMENT DID NOT ARREST FIREFIGHTER DANIEL ARMITAGE FOR ASSAULTING HIS WIFE.

The Michigan Law Enforcement Response To Domestic Violence Officer Manual [October 2007] states:
"THE ARREST DECISION IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CASES. The responding officer should arrest where there is probable cause to believe that a crime has been or is being committed...The Michigan standard for probable cause [reasonable cause] requires only those facts and circumstances sufficient to cause a fairminded person of average intelligence to believe that the suspected person has committed or is committing a crime..." [pg. 147]
"WRITE A DOMESTIC VIOLENCE REPORT DOCUMENTING THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INVESTIGATION. A written report documenting the police response is REQUIRED by Michigan Law [MCL 746.15c] where there are allegations that ANY crime was committed...and there is a domestic relationship between the alleged perpetrator and victim, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER AN ARREST WAS MADE...[pg 237].
"Documenting in the domestic violence written report all fact of the investigation, including...THE RATIONALE FOR THE ARREST OR NO ARREST DECISION..." [pg 238-239]






During the police investigation of the assault, Firefighter Armitage's wife "had told the police of years of terrible physical abuse..." AND STILL THE POLICE DID NOT ARREST FIREFIGHTER ARMITAGE.






The Ann Arbor Fire Department did not suspend Firefighter Armitage following his January 1st assault of his wife, and during the Bloomfield Township PD's investigation into the assault. Instead, the Fire Department gave Firefighter Armitage a medical leave, BECAUSE HIS WIFE WAS IN THE HOSPITAL [RECOVERING FROM THE INJURIES SHE SUFFERED DURING THE DV ASSAULT].






Days after the domestic violence assault [and while Armitage's wife was still in the hospital recovering from the January 1st assault], Sgt. Shields of the Michigan State Police stated , “There are some allegations of domestic assault of some type. I don’t know to what extent, nor who the aggressor was at this point..."






On January 05, 2012 Ann Arbor Firefighter Daniel Armitage commited suicide...
Police say it appears Armitage's world was crumbling around him. His wife had been hospitalized days before and told police of years of terrible physical abuse.
According to Michigan State Trooper Paul Shunia, Armitage may have been distraught at living apart from his wife and children and at the thought of being exposed as an abuser.






Less than 12 hours after Firefighter Armitage's suicide, Bloomfield Township police sent out a brief press release:
"Due to media inquiries, the Bloomfield Township Police Department is currently investigating the report of a possible domestic assault that occurred in the 1800 block of Mohawk Court.
The Bloomfield Township Police Department will have no further comment on this incident until the investigation is completed."






Apparently Bloomfield Township Chief of Police Kirt Bowden does not have to answer to anyone in the State of Michigan for his officers not arresting Firefighter Armitage at the scene of the domestic assault on January 1st.
Nothing further has been mentioned about the PD's "investigation" of the domestic violence assault and the handling of the police call that night, since Firefighter Armitage committed suicide.
Perhaps the police were so consumed in protecting a fellow officer ...and not protecting the victim...that they failed to consider that they could have protected everyone by arresting Firefighter Armitage on January 1st, and putting him on suicide watch in jail.






Perhaps the only reason this OIDV case did not turn into a murder - suicide, is because of circumstances...not because of Michigan Domestic Violence laws and policies. The children were being taken care of by a family member [since the dv assault]...and Mrs. Armitage was in the hospital, at the time Firefighter Armitage committed suicide..





In newspaper articles pertaining to Firefighter Armitage's domestic violence assault on his wife and his suicide, there are numerous mentions of help available for people considering suicide. Not one article mentioned available assistance for victims of officer involved domestic violence.