In recent years a coercive criminal justice policy has been promoted as the appropriate response to control and deter perpetrators of domestic violence. In varying degrees, across western democracies, pro-arrest and mandatory arrest policies, mandatory prosecution, and tougher penalties have been proposed and implemented. However, recent literature and research on domestic violence has questioned the underlying assumption that the criminal justice system is always the most effective and appropriate response to domestic violence. This research raises two serious challenges, not only for the criminal justice system, but also for women's advocates, policy makers and researchers. First, how can the criminal justice system acknowledge and respond to the heterogeneous nature of domestic violence perpetrators? Second, whose goals should be paramount in police response to domestic violence, the system's or the victim's? This paper examines each of these two challenges and considers their implications for the policing of domestic violence.