Domestic Violence Is a Crime - A Case Study - San Francisco Family Violence Project (From Domestic Violence on Trial, P 21-35, 1987, Daniel Jay Sonkin, ed. - See NCJ-104721)

• NCJ Number: 104723
• Author(s): E Soler
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 15 pages
• Sale Source: Copter's Incorporated
• Publication Type: Program Description (Demonstrative)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Prior to implementation of the San Francisco Family Violence Project in 1980, the criminal justice systems' response to domestic violence was primarily one of nonintervention in what was viewed as a civil/family dispute.

Abstract

Under the project, new police department policies and procedures for handling domestic violence were developed that emphasized the serious criminal nature of the offense. A model curriculum and new training courses were developed for dispatch officers, recruits, and advanced police personnel. In addition, data collection systems were initiated for determining the volume of domestic violence calls and reports and any changes over time. The approach to changing the response of the District Attorneys' Office included the development of protocols for handling felony and misdemeanor family violence cases, vertical prosecution, victim advocacy units to aid battered women in their involvement with the criminal justice system, and offender counseling and education. By the project's third year, the conviction rate on felony cases increased 44 percent over the preceding year's, the number of cases in which charges were filed increased 136 percent, and there was a 171 percent increase in the number of positive dispositions (i.e., those that require continued court jurisdiction over the offender, such as probation, diversion, or parole). 12 references.