Evaluation of a Centralized Response to Domestic Violence by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department Domestic Violence Unit, 1998-1999

This study examined the implementation of a specialized
 domestic violence unit within the San Diego County Sheriff's
 Department to determine whether the creation of the new unit would
 lead to increased and improved reporting, and more filings for
 prosecution. In order to evaluate the implementation of the
 specialized domestic violence unit, the researchers conducted the
 following tasks: (1) They surveyed field deputies to assess their
 level of knowledge about domestic violence laws and adherence to the
 countywide domestic violence protocol. (2) They studied a sample from
 the case tracking system that reported cases of domestic violence
 handled by the domestic violence unit to determine changes in
 procedures compared to an earlier case tracking study with no
 specialized unit. (3) They interviewed victims of domestic violence by
 phone to explore the responsiveness of the field deputies and the unit
 detectives to the needs of the victims. Part 1 (Deputy Survey Data)
 contains data on unit detectives' knowledge about the laws concerning
 domestic violence. Information includes whether or not the person
 considered the primary aggressor was the person who committed the
 first act of aggression, if a law enforcement officer could decide
 whether or not to complete a domestic violence supplemental report,
 whether an arrest should be made if there was reasonable cause to
 believe that a misdemeanor offense had been committed, and whether the
 decision to prosecute a suspect lay within the discretion of the
 district or city attorney. Demographic variables include deputy's
 years of education and law enforcement experience. Part 2 (Case
 Tracking Data) includes demographic variables such as race and sex of
 the victim and the suspect, and the relationship between the victim
 and the suspect. Other information was collected on whether the victim
 and the suspect used alcohol and drugs prior to or during the
 incident, if the victim was pregnant, if children were present during
 the incident, highest charge on the incident report, if the reporting
 call was made at the same place the incident occurred, suspect actions
 described on the report, if a gun, knife, physical force, or verbal
 abuse was used in the incident, if the victim or the suspect was
 injured, and if medical treatment was provided to the victim. Data
 were also gathered on whether the suspect was arrested or booked, how
 the investigating officer decided whether to request that the
 prosecutor file charges, type of evidence collected, if a victim or
 witness statement was collected, if the victim had a restraining
 order, prior history of domestic violence, if the victim was provided
 with information on domestic violence law, hotline, shelter,
 transportation, and medical treatment, highest arrest charge, number
 of arrests for any drug charges, weapon charges, domestic violence
 charges, or other charges, case disposition, number of convictions for
 the charges, and number of prior arrests and convictions. Part 3
 (Victim Survey Data) includes demographic variables such as victim's
 gender and race. Other variables include how much time the deputy
 spent at the scene when s/he responded to the call, number of deputies
 the victim interacted with at the scene, number of deputies at the
 scene that were male or female, if the victim used any of the
 information the deputy provided, if the victim used referral
 information for counseling, legal, shelter, and other services, how
 helpful the victim found the information, and the victim's rating of
the performance of the deputy.