"a Hard Situation to Solve": Police Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Response to Domestic Violence

Background/Purpose: 

Calls to police for domestic violence are common and often repeat occurrences.  While police response has been critical to the safety of many survivors, research indicates there are complex factors involved.  With the encouraged or mandated involvement of police, it is critical to explore the immediate and long-term effectiveness of their response.  Police officers can offer a unique perspective, specifically to answer the following research questions: 1) how effective do officers think their resolution decision was in resolving the immediate situation and in reducing the risk of future violence, 2) what factors influence how effective resolution decisions were rated, and 3) what do officers think would be most effective in reducing the risk of future violence? 

Methods:

This cross-sectional study employed self-administered questionnaires with sworn police officers from multiple police departments attending 18 purposively sampled training courses.  The sample included 303 completed questionnaires that collected information about a recent domestic violence call to which the officer responded.  Officer perceptions of effectiveness (in the immediate situation and in reducing the risk of future violence) of the resolution option they utilized were collected.  Effectiveness was measured on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being not at all effective and 5 being very effective.  In addition to descriptive statistics, the data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test.  Responses from open-ended questions were analyzed to identify common themes.

Results: 

Officers rated the resolution they utilized as effective (4 or 5 on the effectiveness scale) in addressing the immediate situation in 70% of cases.  The effectiveness of their resolutions in reducing the risk of future violence was rated as effective (4 or 5) in only 30% of cases.  For ratings of immediate effectiveness, there is a statistically significant difference between the underlying distributions of the ratings for calls resulting in arrest and those that did not (z = -2.98, p < .01).  For ratings of reducing the risk of future violence, there is a statistically significant difference between the underlying distributions in calls where there was no or unknown drug/alcohol use (z = 2.05, p < .05).   To the question of what would be most effective in reducing the risk of future violence, responses included: counseling, substance use treatment, resources, and interventions such as orders of protection.

Conclusions/Implications: 

These results provide a nuanced understanding of police responses to domestic violence and their effectiveness.  The findings indicate that the use of arrest produced higher ratings of immediate effectiveness, but not for effectiveness in reducing future violence.  In cases of offender drug/alcohol use, resolutions were rated as less effective in reducing future violence.  Officer descriptions of what would be most effective in reducing future violence include some legal interventions, but more often social service options. Overall, these findings identify an opportunity for social work.  From the officer perspective, there are limitations in their ability to effect long-term change in reducing violence and social workers can play an important role in intervening in the immediate situation, as well as the long-term healing process.