NCJ Number
183357
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 28 Issue: 3 Dated: May/June 2000 Pages: 181-188
Date Published
2000
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Analyses of domestic violence incidents in one jurisdiction indicate significant differences in police handling of single-perpetrator events and incidents with more than one party as either perpetrator or victim; in this study a "multiple record" variable was constructed to indicate that incidents contained more than one perpetrator or victim, and differences in arrest rates were analyzed.
Abstract
The data analyzed were from the 1996 database of domestic violence incidents reported by local law enforcement agencies to the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI). Multiple records for the same incident existed when more than one perpetrator or victim existed. The data for the study contained 3,019 records. Disposition, the dependent variable, was categorized as either "arrest" or "no-arrest," which included separation, mediation, and referral to a social service agency. Results indicate that in situations of domestic violence with more than one perpetrator or victim, an arrest is more likely to occur when there is serious injury, although these multiple individual situations report less serious injury than single-perpetrator incidents. Additional results show that when the relationship is spousal and the type of crime is assault, there is a greater likelihood of arrest than when the relationship is nonspousal. Generally, the results indicate that the impact of extralegal factors is significantly different for multiple-party incidents than for single-perpetrator incidents, and these factors impact the arrest decision differently. 6 tables and 30 references