Art. 5A.003 PRIMARY DUTIES OF PEACE OFFICER INVESTIGATING FAMILY VIOLENCE

When police respond to a call about possible family violence, they have a few key jobs they must focus on. Their main task is keeping any potential victim safe. This comes before anything else.

Officers also need to enforce Texas law during these calls. If someone has a protective order from another state or jurisdiction, the officer must enforce that order too, following the rules in Chapter 88 of the Family Code. This means a protective order doesn't stop working just because someone crosses state lines.

Finally, officers are required to make arrests when the law has been broken and there are lawful grounds to do so. This rule makes clear that responding to family violence calls isn't just about calming things down or filing a report. Officers have a duty to protect victims, follow the law, respect protective orders from other places, and arrest people who have committed crimes.