NCJ Number
126767
Journal
Journal of Police Science and Administration Volume: 17 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1990) Pages: 244-249
Date Published
1990
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Data from the Tampa (FL) Police Department were compiled to determine the potential for harm posed by domestic disturbance calls compared to general disturbance calls.
Abstract
Of 791,837 calls received by the department, 11.9 percent were disturbance calls (34,839 domestic, or 4.4 percent; 58,990 general, or 7.5 percent). The occurrence of assault per 1,000 calls was 2.6 for domestic and 3.1 for general disturbances, but the injury rate was higher for domestic (1.5) than for general (1.3). The study thus concludes that an officer is more likely to be assaulted on a general disturbance call, but more likely to be injured on a domestic call. The slightly higher injury rate and psychological pressure caused by repeat dispatches to the same addresses are what foster the persistent belief that domestic calls are the most dangerous. 5 tables, 3 endnotes, and 22 references