A review of domestic violence arrest statistics in a police department using a pro-arrest policy: Are pro-arrest policies enough?

Since pro-arrest policies in domestic violence became popular in the United States in the 1980s, numerous western countries have followed suit. In most cases, research has shown that implementation of the policies has fallen short of expectations, with arrest rates that are surprisingly low. In New Zealand, pro–arrest strategies have been employed since 1987 and results have been similar. This article argues that one of the reasons for noncompliance in New Zealand (and probably elsewhere), is that the complexities of domestic violence situations make pro–arrest difficult to apply in practice. Moreover, in order to protect themselves from official criticism for deviating from policy, in this study frontline police sometimes filed incomplete or inaccurate incident reports. This made it hard to determine exactly how well the policy was being implemented and whether or not it was working.

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The Role of Stalking in Domestic Violence Crime Reports Generated by the Colorado Springs Police Department

Violence and Victims ◽

10.1891/0886-6708.15.4.427 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 15 (4) ◽

pp. 427-441 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

Patricia Tjaden ◽

Nancy Thoennes

Keyword(s):

Domestic Violence ◽

Police Department ◽

Male Victims ◽

Female Victims ◽

Colorado Springs ◽

Police Investigation ◽

Restraining Order ◽

Households With Children ◽

Crime Reports

A review of 1,785 domestic violence crime reports generated by the Colorado Springs Police Department found that 1 in 6 (16.5 percent) contained evidence the suspect stalked the victim. Female victims were significantly more likely than male victims to allege stalking by their partners (18.3 vs. 10.5 percent). Most stalkers were former rather than current intimates. Regardless of victims’ gender, reports with stalking allegations were significantly less likely to mention physical abuse or victim injury in the presenting condition, to involve households with children, or to involve victims and suspects who were using alcohol at the time of the report. Female victims who alleged stalking by their partner were significantly less likely than female victims who did not allege stalking to be emotionally distraught at the time of the report, but significantly more likely to have an active restraining order against the suspect, and to sign releases to facilitate the police investigation. Police almost never charged domestic violence stalking suspects with stalking, preferring instead to charge them with harassment or violation of a restraining order.

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The Effect of COVID-19 on Domestic Violence and Assaults

Criminal Justice Review ◽

10.1177/07340168211061160 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 073401682110611

Author(s):

Mustafa Demir ◽

Suyeon Park

Keyword(s):

Domestic Violence ◽

Time Series ◽

Time Series Data ◽

Police Department ◽

Interrupted Time Series ◽

Series Data ◽

Data Set ◽

Calls For Service ◽

Time Series Analyses ◽

Significant Change

The purpose of this research was to examine the effect of COVID-19 on four outcomes including calls for service for domestic violence, calls for service for assaults, arrests for domestic violence, and arrests for assaults in Burlington, Vermont. The data for each outcome collected over the time periods January 2012 through May 2021 were obtained from the Burlington Police Department website and then a monthly time-series data set were created. The analyses including an independent samples t-test, a Poisson regression test, and a monthly interrupted time-series analyses (ITSA) were employed to test the effects of COVID-19 on the previously mentioned outcomes. The results of the ITSA showed that in the first month following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, domestic violence calls statistically significantly increased, but no statistically significant change was observed in domestic violence arrests, while assault calls and assault arrests statistically significantly decreased. In addition, during COVID-19, there was a statistically significant decreasing trend in domestic violence calls and domestic violence arrests, while there was no statistically significant change in the trends of assault calls and assault arrests. The results suggest that COVID-19 had an immediate as well as a persistent effect on the numbers of domestic violence and assaults. The results and limitations of this study were also discussed.

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Role of Stalking in Domestic Violence Crime Reports Generated by the Colorado Springs Police Department, 1998

ICPSR Data Holdings ◽

10.3886/icpsr03142.v1 ◽

2001 ◽

Author(s):

Patricia Tjaden ◽

Nancy Thoennes

Keyword(s):

Domestic Violence ◽

Police Department ◽

Colorado Springs ◽

Crime Reports

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When “Shelter-in-Place” Isn’t Shelter That’s Safe: A Rapid Analysis of Domestic Violence Case Differences During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Stay-at-Home Orders

10.1101/2020.05.29.20117366 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Molly M. McLay

Keyword(s):

Domestic Violence ◽

Research Policy ◽

Explanatory Power ◽

Police Department ◽

Rapid Analysis ◽

Child Victims ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Logistic Regression Models ◽

Residential Locations ◽

Multiple Variables

AbstractPurposeThis study explored the COVID-19 pandemic’s impacts on domestic violence (DV) with the following research questions: 1) Did DV occurring during the pandemic differ on certain variables from cases occurring on a typical day the previous year? 2) Did DV occurring after the implementation of shelter-in-place orders differ (on these same variables) from cases occurring prior to shelter-in-place orders?MethodsTwo logistic regression models were developed to predict DV case differences before and during the pandemic. DV reports (N = 4618) were collected from the Chicago Police Department. Cases from March 2019 and March 2020 were analyzed based on multiple variables. One model was set to predict case differences since the pandemic began, and another model was set to predict case differences during the shelter-inplace period later that month.ResultsBoth models were significant with multiple significant predictors. During the pandemic period, cases with arrests were 3% less likely to have occurred, and cases at residential locations were 22% more likely to have occurred. During the shelter-inplace period, cases at residential locations were 64% more likely to have occurred, and cases with child victims were 67% less likely to have occurred.ConclusionsThis study offers a rapid analysis of DV case differences since the pandemic and shelter-in-place began. Additional variables and data sources could improve model explanatory power. Research, policy, and practice in this area must pivot to focus on protecting children whose access to mandated reporters has decreased and moving victims out of dangerous living situations into safe spaces.

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