Portland [Oregon] Domestic Violence Experiment, 1996-1997

As part of its organization-wide transition to community
policing in 1989, the Portland Police Bureau, in collaboration with
the Family Violence Intervention Steering Committee of Multnomah
County, developed a plan to reduce domestic violence in Portland. The
creation of a special police unit to focus exclusively on misdemeanor
domestic crimes was the centerpiece of the plan. This police unit, the
Domestic Violence Reduction Unit (DVRU), had two goals: to increase
the sanctions for batterers and to empower victims. This study was
designed to determine whether DVRU strategies led to reductions in
domestic violence. Data were collected from official records on
batterers (Parts 1-10), and from surveys on victims (Parts 11-12).
Part 1 (Police Recorded Study Case Data) provides information on
police custody reports. Part 2 (Batterer Arrest History Data)
describes the arrest history during a five-year period prior to each
batterer's study case arrest date. Part 3 (Charges Data for Study Case
Arrests) contains charges filed by the prosecutor's office in
conjunction with study case arrests. Part 4 (Jail Data) reports
booking charges and jail information. Part 5 (Court Data) contains
sentencing information for those offenders who had either entered a
guilty plea or had been found guilty of the charges stemming from the
study case arrest. Data in Part 6 (Restraining Order Data) document
the existence of restraining orders, before and/or after the study
case arrest date. Part 7 (Diversion Program Data) includes deferred
sentencing program information for study cases. Variables in Parts 1-7
provide information on number of batterer's arrests for domestic
violence and non-domestic violence crimes in the past five years,
charge and disposition of the study case, booking charges, number of
hours offender spent in jail, type of release, type of sentence, if
restraining order was filed after case arrest, if restraining order
was served or vacated, number of days offender stayed in diversion
program, and type of diversion violation incurred. Part 8 (Domestic
Violence Reduction Unit Treatment Data) contains 395 of the 404 study
cases that were randomly assigned to the treatment condition.
Variables describe the types of services DVRU provided, such as taking
photographs along with victim statements, providing the victim with
information on case prosecution, restraining orders, shelters,
counseling, and an appointment with district attorney, helping the
victim get a restraining order, serving a restraining order on the
batterer, transporting the victim to a shelter, and providing the
victim with a motel voucher and emergency food supply. Part 9 (Police
Record Recidivism Data) includes police entries (incident or arrest)
six months before and six months after the study case arrest
date. Part 10 (Police Recorded Revictimization and Reoffending Data)
consists of revictimization and reoffending summary counts as well as
time-to-failure data. Most of the variables in Part 10 were derived
from information reported in Part 9. Part 9 and Part 10 variables
include whether the offense in each incident was related to domestic
violence, whether victimization was done by the same batterer as in
the study case arrest, type of police action against the
victimization, charges of the victimization, type of premises where
the crime was committed, whether the police report indicated that
witnesses or children were present, whether the police report
mentioned victim injury, weapon used, involvement of drugs or alcohol,
whether the batterer denied abuse victim, number of days from study
cases to police-recorded revictimization, and whether the recorded
victimization led to the batterer's arrest. Part 11 (Wave 1 Victim
Interview Data) contains data obtained through in-person interviews
with victims shortly (1-2 weeks) after the case entered the
study. Data in Part 12 (Wave 2 Victim Interview Data) represent
victims' responses to the second wave of interviews, conducted
approximately six months after the study case victimization occurred.
Variables in Part 11 and Part 12 cover the victim's experience six
months before the study case arrest and six months after the study
case arrest. Demographic variables in both files include victim's and
batterer's race and ethnicity, employment, and income, and
relationship status between victim and batterer. Information on
childhood experiences includes whether the victim and batterer felt
emotionally cared for by parents, whether the victim and batterer
witnessed violence between parents while growing up, and whether the
victim and batterer were abused as children by a family member.
Variables on the batterer's abusive behaviors include whether the
batterer threatened to kill, swore at, pushed or grabbed, slapped,
beat, or forced the victim to have sex. Information on the results of
the abuse includes whether the abuse led to cuts or bruises, broken
bones, burns, internal injury, or damage to eyes or ears. Information
was also collected on whether alcohol or drugs were involved in the
abuse events. Variables on victims' actions after the event include
whether the victim saw a doctor, whether the victim talked to a
minister, a family member, a friend, a mental health professional, or
a district attorney, whether the victim tried to get an arrest
warrant, went to a shelter to talk, and/or stayed at a shelter,
whether the victim asked police to intervene, tried to get a
restraining order, talked to an attorney, or undertook other actions,
and whether the event led to the batterer's arrest. Variables on
victim satisfaction with the police and the DVRU include whether
police or the DVRU were able to calm things down, recommended going to
the district attorney, informed the victim of her legal rights,
recommended that the victim contact shelter or support groups,
transported the victim to a hospital, and listened to the victim,
whether police treated the victim with respect, and whether the victim
would want police or the DVRU involved in the future if needed.
Variables on the victim's emotional state include whether the victim
was confident that she could keep herself safe, felt her family life
was under control, and felt she was doing all she could to get
help. Other variables include number of children the victim had and
their ages, and whether the children had seen violence between the
victim and batterer.