NCJ Number
177884
Journal
Women and Criminal Justice Volume: 10 Issue: 2 Dated: 1999 Pages: 49-68
Date Published
1999
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This study used police self-report and case record analysis to compare the rates and correlates associated with an arrest response when police responded to domestic assault calls in one jurisdiction at one point in time.
Abstract
The study was conducted out of the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office, one of the largest police agencies in south Florida. In the summer of 1992, the researcher received permission to hand out a two-page anonymous survey questionnaire to all police officers on all shifts attending roll call. Of 412 officers, 297 officers (72 percent) were surveyed. One year later the researcher returned and requested all calls for service and the records some of them subsequently generated during the same period that officers had been surveyed 1 year earlier. It was decided to use the call for service as the starting point for the case record analysis because of research that indicated domestic calls may be handled differently from the time the call is first received by the police. Although police self-reported a high likelihood to arrest (approximately a 60-percent rate of arrest), police reports showed a much lower rate of arrest (20 percent); however, the two methodologies showed greater similarities in terms of correlates associated with this arrest response. Specifically, both indicated the predominance of situational factors over officer, offender, or victim characteristics. 4 tables and 56 references