NCJ Number
234347
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 26 Issue: 3 Dated: April 2011 Pages: 163-169
Date Published
April 2011
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article looks at research on assaults on police officers during domestic violence calls.
Abstract
Police work is rife with the potential for physical harm, and domestic assault calls are one source of assaults on officers. Inability to accurately predict what circumstances might lead to an attack is one cause of officer cynicism and paranoia. Having the ability to identify which suspects pose the greatest threat of assault would allow officers to take appropriate protective measures. Using data collected from 1,951 domestic assault calls across 3 cities, the present study compared characteristics and behaviors of the batterers with whether or not the batterers physically assaulted the responding officers. Findings revealed five significant batterer characteristics (employment status, shared residence with abuse victim, alcohol consumption, property damage, and hostile demeanor toward officers) that successfully predicted officer assaults. These risk factors may be incorporated into police safety training in the response to family violence calls. (Published Abstract)