NCJ Number
106531
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 54 Issue: 8 Dated: (August 1987) Pages: 42-44
Date Published
1987
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article describes the operation and effects of the New York City Police Department's Domestic Violence Prevention Project (DVPP), which involves police early intervention in households reporting domestic abuse.
Abstract
Within a few days after the police respond to a domestic incident in four targeted precincts, an officer and a counselor from the Victim Services Agency contact the family to inform the complainant of appropriate services and to advise the abuser that domestic violence is a crime and that the police will be monitoring the household. Family members are invited to the precinct to discuss their situation with DVPP staff. In extreme cases, the officer and counselor may make an unannounced visit to the home. One project evaluation goal was to determine whether DVPP reduced the incidence and severity of domestic violence, and another goal was to learn more about domestic violence as a basis for tailoring police responses. To determine DVPP's effectiveness, the study monitored domestic violence statistics in experimental and control precincts both before and after the project began. The most recent data were from the third quarter of 1986, and the earliest data were from the third quarter of 1984. Domestic violence incidents, complaints, or arrests did not diminish over time in the DVPP precincts compared to the control precincts. Interviews with samples of experimental and control families did not indicate a significant change in violence patterns in experimental compared to control families. Positive project results were (1) officers' increased willingness to write up formal complaints and (2) acquisition of knowledge about domestic violence, which is being used to redesign DVPP. 5 footnotes.