Police Use of Domestic Violence Information Systems, Final Report

摘要

The Seattle Police Department, University of Washington's School of Public Health and School of Medicine, and Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center have initiated a research program to develop a data management system for use in longterm evaluations and improving police efforts to break cycles of domestic violence. The Seattle Police Department has in place a fairly sophisticated database for domestic violence cases, has developed a supplemental data collection form for such cases, and is testing a method of assessing lethality to ensure that the most potentially dangerous cases receive appropriate attention. One objective is to use such lethality measures to assign detectives to misdemeanor cases judged most likely to escalate. To assist in this effort, the Justice Research Center (JRC) surveyed police departments known for their development and use of advanced domestic violence information systems. This report summarizes the survey's results and implications for the Seattle Police Department's domestic violence research program. Part I of this report briefly covers1 the purpose and methods of the JRC project, focuses on a summary of the. . current practices in selected departments, and presents recommendations. Part II consists of case studies of six police departments doing innovative work in the development and use of domestic violence information systems; the appendices contain copies of incident reports, supplementary forms, data screens, etc., gathered from the departments surveyed. The purpose of JRC's project was to find and document domestic violence data collection schemes used by no fewer than six departments that present useful information to the Seattle Police Department's research program. In consultation with the researchers and department, the search focused on departments which have experimented with expanded databases (e.g., those which include supplementary evidence, medical data, etc.) for a variety of purposes, including prioritizing cases for special/coordinated response, treatment, investigation, and/or prosecution; improving evidence collection; and determining 'lethality' (Le., identifying high-risk cases).