Like any blunt policy instrument, though, mandatory arrest spawned problems of its own.

Laws now also call for mandatory arrests of perpetrators in most states.

"Until you admit that mandatory arrest is a failure in our inner cities, you won't get anybody to spend a penny on looking for other alternatives," he told me.

Indeed, some defenders of current policies like to cite the Simpson case to explain why mandatory arrest and no-drop prosecution policies are important, no matter what the studies show.

Under an executive order issued last February by County Executive Patrick G. Halpin, cases of domestic violence require mandatory arrests.

But Pence doesn't condone mandatory arrest or no-drop prosecutions unilaterally.

"At some point we are going to run into these two men, and their mandatory arrest puts us in the position of choosing sides."

To date one of the few methods of stopping battery has been mandatory arrest, often followed by a short period of incarceration.

Domestic violence Favors mandatory arrests for violation of orders of protection and favors revoked gun permits for all people who violated a restraining order.

As of July 1, new state laws on mandatory arrests of batterers will take effect, and the courts will have to be braced for an influx of cases.