This report presents the methodology, findings, and recommendations of the process evaluation of the Greenville Arrest Policies Project (Mississippi), which is a Federal grant program intended to encourage jurisdictions to implement mandatory or proarrest policies as an effective domestic-violence intervention that is part of a coordinated community response to domestic violence.
This report reviews the activities of the Greenville Police Department from the early stages of the project and examines current operations and future plans. Relevant laws are discussed as well as the project objectives, planning, implementation, resources, and interagency collaboration. The primary project objective is to establish a coordinated community response to domestic violence that links the efforts of the police, victim advocates, prosecutors, judges, health-care professionals, and others who have contact with families that are experiencing domestic abuse. Specific objectives are to hire four patrol officers, one lead officer, a secretary, and four dispatchers, and to obtain counseling services to be housed in a centralized location within the police department; to establish a working group of individuals interested in decreasing domestic violence in the community; and to develop an evaluation plan for assessing the domestic violence unit and working-group progress. The continuation proposal for the project includes the development of a court-monitoring program and training for law enforcement. The evaluation found that the Greenville Police Department and its nonprofit partner (Our House) have been successful in meeting the project's initial goals. Our House is actively recruiting members to expand the task force countywide and has hired a court advocate to provide information to victims in the Greenville Municipal Court. Another court advocate has been hired and will start monitoring courts in the surrounding cities to initiate contact with victims. The project implementation was attended with problems. The Salvation Army had no problems providing services to women during the first grant period; however, Our House experienced some problems during implementation of the batterers education program. Most of these problems were due to the need to refine program operations. Recommendations for improvement pertain to operational changes to the domestic violence unit, designated officers for follow-up or clearer procedures, improvements in probation, and collaboration between police and social service agencies.