NCJ Number
150233
Journal
Justice Quarterly Volume: 11 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1994) Pages: 99-117
Date Published
1994
Length
19 pages
Annotation
To analyze the danger faced by police officers who answer calls related to domestic violence, this study, conducted in Charlotte, North Carolina, compared data on all assaults committed against police officers between 1988 and 1990 against the total number of calls for service, which averaged 984 per day.
Abstract
Domestic disturbances constituted 7.8 percent of the total, and general disturbances 13.4 percent. A total of 1,038 assault incidents on police officers occurred during the reporting period; 499 resulted in injury to the officer. Both domestic and general disturbances were overrepresented in assaults and injuries to officers. Domestic disturbance was the fourth most likely police activity to lead to an assault and fifth most likely type of call to lead to an injury. Victim officers were primarily male, white, under age 30, of nonsupervisory rank, with less than three years on the force, and more likely to be working with another officer than alone. Nearly all assault incidents involved a single offender who was male, black, under age 30, and had attacked the officer victim physically. 3 tables, 1 note, and 33 references