Police in Moab, Utah, are releasing the findings of their independent investigation into the actions taken by officers who stopped Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie on a domestic dispute call. Officers spoke to the troubled couple anywhere from days to weeks before Petito was murdered.
The report acknowledges that "the officers who responded to the incident made several unintentional mistakes that stemmed from the fact that officers failed to cite Ms. Petito for domestic violence," in part. While this conclusion has been controversial to many who see Petito as a victim in the situation, officers seek to acknowledge that regardless of who was at fault in that moment, intervention may have made a difference in the immediate aftermath. Sadly, no one can say if it would have changed the ultimate outcome.
The report, aside from taking a fine-toothed comb to the incident between Laundrie and Petito, also looks at what the department can do moving forward, from domestic violence training to policy reviews and more.
Probation has been recommended for the two Moab police officers who contacted Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie on August 12, 2021, after receiving a 911 call about a potential domestic dispute. The report indicates that the 911 caller, who reported seeing Petito hit Laundrie while he was driving, was never contacted again after the initial 911 call.
The report found that the officers should have cited Petito for domestic violence and misinterpreted Utah's assault code. Additionally, they didn't photograph Petito's injuries at the time of the stop, only Laundrie's. These are among the "unintentional mistakes" made by the officers.
"The officers did not know what they were doing was wrong at the time and did not make the decision to benefit themselves in any way," Price City Police Department Captain Brandon Ratcliffe wrote after conducting the review.
"They both believed at the time they were making the right decision based on the totality of the circumstances that were presented."
Specific recommendations Ratcliffe made for the department as a whole include review of policy requirements on gathering photographic evidence of injuries sustained by and offering medical assistance to all individuals involved in an incident. The department has said it will follow all outlined recommendations.
Many have been frustrated with the report's finding that Gabby should have been arrested based on the 911 call and police observations. The report addresses this, acknowledging that she was likely "a long-term victim of domestic violence." In the report, Ratcliffe addresses Gabby's claim that Brian grabbed her face.
"There have been many times in my career where someone who we know from past experience to be a long-term victim of domestic violence, gets arrested for committing an act of domestic violence against their long-term abuser," Ratcliffe wrote.
"It's very likely Gabby was a long-term victim of domestic violence, whether that be physically, mentally, and/or emotionally."
"Although the act of grabbing someone's face, like in this case, rarely causes any significant injury, I find that the specific act of grabbing someone’s face is extremely personal, violent, and controlling," he wrote.
"Just because there may have been some signs that Brian was the long-term predominant aggressor, law enforcement could only act on the information they were provided."
"Despite knowing the history of those involved, we have had to make a decision based on the information presented to law enforcement at the time, despite our personal feelings and the known history of the relationship," Ratcliffe noted.
Sadly, hindsight is 20/20. We can now look back and see how the situation could have or should have been handled differently.
What we don't know is what difference a different outcome in that moment would have made in the situation overall.
"Would Gabby be alive today if this case was handled differently? That is an impossible question to answer despite it being the answer many people want to know," he wrote.
"Nobody knows and nobody will ever know the answer to that question."
The Petito and Schmidt families have not commented on this report. The Laundrie family attorney, Steven Bertolino, released a statement in response to the report.
"The Moab incident was certainly an indication of the breakdown of Brian and Gabby's ability to handle the stresses of spending 24/7 with each other. Any reasonable person can appreciate this," he wrote.
"The Moab officers responded and acted professionally toward both Brian and Gabby. Although the officers may not have followed the letter of the law in not citing Gabby, I believe they did the best they could given the responsiveness of both Brian and Gabby during the traffic stop."
"To label every disagreement between couples a citable domestic violence incident is to criminalize human emotions and reactions that should be dealt with outside of the criminal code," he continued.
"In my opinion, the officers did the right thing by separating the two young adults. There are many other factors at play here that may have changed the outcome of the two young lives that have been tragically lost. We may never know if citing Gabby, or Brian for that matter, would have been the deciding factor in the final outcome but I personally don't believe we should issue criminal citations and label everything as domestic violence."
