Victims' Ratings of Police Services in New York and Texas, 1994-1995 Survey

The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act of 1984
 (FVPSA) provided funding, through the Office of Victims of Crime in
 the United States Department of Justice, for 23 law enforcement
 training projects across the nation from 1986 to 1992. FVPSA was
 enacted to assist states in (1) developing and maintaining programs
 for the prevention of family violence and for the provision of shelter
 to victims and their dependents and (2) providing training and
 technical assistance for personnel who provide services for victims of
 family violence. The National Institute of Justice awarded a grant to
 the Urban Institute in late 1992 to evaluate the police training
 projects. One of the program evaluation methods the Urban Institute
 used was to conduct surveys of victims in New York and Texas. The
 primary objectives of the survey were to find out, from victims who
 had contact with law enforcement officers in the pre-training period
 and/or in the post-training period, what their experiences and
 evaluations of law enforcement services were, how police interventions
 had changed over time, and how the quality of services and changes
 related to the police training funded under the FVPSA. Following the
 conclusion of training, victims of domestic assault in New York and
 Texas were surveyed through victim service programs across each
 state. Similar, but not identical, instruments were used at the two
 sites. Service providers were asked to distribute the questionnaires
 to victims of physical or sexual abuse who had contact with law
 enforcement officers. The survey instruments were developed to obtain
 information and victim perceptions of
 the following key subject areas: history of abuse, characteristics of
 the victim-abuser relationship, demographic characteristics of the
 abuser and the victim, history of law enforcement contacts, 
 services
 received from law enforcement officers, and victims' evaluations of
 these services. Variables on history of
 abuse include types of abuse experienced, first and last time
 physically or sexually abused, and frequency of abuse. Characteristics
 of the victim-abuser relationship include length of involvement with
 the abuser, living arrangement and relationship status at time of last
 abuse, number of children the victim had, and number of
 children at home at the time of last abuse. Demographic variables
 provide age, race/ethnicity, employment status, and education level of
 the abuser and the victim. Variables on the history of law enforcement
 contacts and services received include number of times law
 enforcement officers were called because of assaults on the victim,
 number of times law enforcement officers actually came to the
 scene, first and last time officers came to the scene, number of times
 officers were involved because of assaults on the victim, number of
 times officers were involved in the last 12 months, and type of
 law enforcement agencies the officers were from. Data are also included on
 city size by population, city median household income, county
 population density, county crime rate, and region of state of the
 responding law enforcement agencies. Over 30 variables record the
 victims' evaluations of the officers' responsiveness, helpfulness, and
attitudes.