NCJ Number
200856
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 18 Issue: 3 Dated: June 2003 Pages: 143-150
Date Published
June 2003
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article focuses on the involvement of police officers in incidents of physical assaults against women.
Abstract
Considerable literature has addressed the issue of the criminal justice system’s involvement in incidents of domestic violence. Victims of more severe forms of violence are more inclined to call the police than are victims of lesser crimes. Discussing the decisions that police officers must make in order to decide who should be arrested for domestic violence, the article suggests that police are more likely to respond to the claims of assaults against intimates than they are to claims of assaults against strangers. A study was conducted using the redesigned National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The NCVS uses a rotating panel sample design in which respondents are interviewed every 6 months for a total of seven interviews over a 3-year period. Multivariate analyses of the NCVS indicate that police officers are more likely to be called in cases of domestic violence when the violence represents a single incident and if an injury results from the violence. When looking at the criminal justice system’s involvement in incidents of physical assault against women, factors other than victim-offender relationships, including police-victim relationships must be considered. Tables, references