Disorderly Conduct

The ´disorderly conduct´ law gives police a vague and extremely broad power to detain people in both public and private places for any action that is believed to have a propensity to make or start a disturbance. This law includes a wide range of behaviors including violent, abusive, profane, indecent, boisterous and any excessive loud conduct, as well as any actions that the police believe may start or have the possibility of starting a disturbance. The disorderly conduct law in Wisconsin is applicable to telephone calls if the call is made with the goal of intimidating, frightening, harassing, threatening, or abusing, and there is a threat to injure or do physical harm to any person or property owned by that person.

Disorderly Conduct Penalties if Convicted:
A conviction for disorderly conduct carries the penalties of a Class B misdemeanor, if any of the aforementioned circumstances occur. If the objective is to harass, then there is a possibility the charge will be for forfeiture. Even though the supposed disorderly conduct is directed at a person or group of people, the law does not necessitate a victim. If a victim or victims exist, it is possible that the state would subpoena testimony for a court hearing.

Disorderly Conduct – Domestic Charge:
The condition that makes a disorderly conduct a domestic charge is that the two people have or have ever had a domestic relationship. The definition of a domestic relationship is when two people are married, living together, or have or have previously had a child, and it is not significant whether or not they are currently in a relationship or have ended their relationship and no longer qualify for the domestic definition. The domestic enhancement makes the disorderly conduct charge much more severe. The domestic disorderly charge can prevent a person from working with children at a child care center, or with adults at a nursing home. Also, a person convicted of domestic disorderly can be prevented from carrying or owning a gun or other dangerous weapons while serving the sentence, during the probation period, and possibly after the probation period. The court even has the power to make the offender surrender all guns.

Domestic Dispute Police Response:
According to Wisconsin law each police department must create and preserve a policy that deals with the handling of a wide variety of police calls, which include domestic disputes. In most countries, when police are called to a domestic disturbance they will always arrest at least one spouse, and in some cases both spouses. The compulsory arrest policy was put into practice a few years ago to drive down the number of severe domestic dispute violence.

Avoiding Bad Outcomes:
A disorderly conduct conviction can have a serious impact on a person´s life and future. In certain cases, defendants can get alternative sentences, which will prevent the charge from being on the offender´s permanent record once the sentence is complete. Under some circumstances the charges have been dropped altogether. In the worst situation, the defendants have been caught off guard when the court comes down hard on them after they have chosen to defend themselves and gotten harsh penalties such as jail time, fines and probation.