DOI: 10.3886/icpsr03166.v1
title: Evaluation of Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies for Domestic Violence Cases in the State College, Pennsylvania, Police Department, 1999-2000
title: Version 1

description: This project was an 18-month long research-practitioner
 partnership to conduct a process evaluation of the State College
 Police Department's implementation of a grant to encourage arrest
 policies for domestic violence. The general goals of the process
 evaluation were to assess how and to what extent the State College
 Police Department's proposed activities were implemented as planned,
 based on the rationale that such activities would enhance the
 potential for increasing victim safety and perpetrator accountability
 systemically. As part of the grant, the police department sought to
 improve case tracking and services to victims by developing new
 specialized positions for domestic violence, including: (1) a domestic
 violence arrest coordinator from within the State College Police
 Department who was responsible for monitoring case outcomes through
 the courts and updating domestic violence policies and training (Part
 1, Victim Tracking Data from Domestic Violence Coordinator), (2) a
 victims service attorney from Legal Services who was responsible for
 handling civil law issues for domestic violence victims, including
 support, child custody, employment, financial, consumer, public
 benefits, and housing issues (Part 2, Victim Tracking Data From Victim
 Services Attorney), and (3) an intensive domestic violence probation
 officer from the Centre County Probation and Parole Department who was
 responsible for providing close supervision and follow-up of batterers
 (Part 3, Offender Tracking Data). Researchers worked with
 practitioners to develop databases suitable for monitoring service
 provision by the three newly-created positions for domestic violence
 cases. Major categories of data collected on the victim tracking form
 (Parts 1 and 2) included location of initial contact, type of initial
 contact, referral source, reason for initial contact,
 service/consultation provided at initial contact, meetings, and
 referrals out. Types of services provided include reporting abuse,
 filing a Protection from Abuse order, legal representation, and
 assistance with court procedures. Major categories of data collected
 on the offender tracking form (Part 3) included location of initial
 contact, type of initial contact, referral source, reason for initial
 contact, service/consultation provided, charges, sentence received,
 relationship between the victim and perpetrator, marital status,
 children in the home, referrals out, presentencing investigation
 completed, prior criminal history, and reason for termination. Types
 of services provided include pre-sentence investigation, placement on
 supervision, and assessment and evaluation. In addition to developing
 these new positions, the police department also sought to improve how
 officers handled domestic violence cases through a two-day training
 program. The evaluation conducted pre- and post-training assessments
 of all personnel training in 1999 and conducted follow-up surveys to
 assess the long-term impact of training. For Part 4, Police Training
 Survey Data, surveys were administered to law enforcement personnel
 participating in a two-day domestic violence training program. Surveys
 were administered both before and after the training program and
 focused on knowledge about domestic violence policies and protocols,
 attitudes and beliefs about domestic violence, and the background and
 experience of the officers. Within six months after the training, the
 same participants were contacted to complete a follow-up survey.
 Variables in Part 4 measure how well officers knew domestic violence
 arrest policies, their attitudes toward abused women and how to handle
 domestic violence cases, and their opinions about
 training. Demographic variables in Part 4 include age, sex, race,
education, and years in law enforcement.
description: This project was an 18-month long
 research-practitioner partnership to conduct a process evaluation of
 the State College Police Department's implementation of a grant to
 encourage arrest policies for domestic violence. As part of this
 grant, the police department sought to improve case tracking and
 services to victims by developing new specialized positions for
 domestic violence, including: (1) a domestic violence arrest
 coordinator from within the State College Police Department who was
 responsible for monitoring case outcomes through the courts and
 updating domestic violence policies and training, (2) a victims
 service attorney from Legal Services who was responsible for handling
 civil law issues for domestic violence victims, including support,
 child custody, employment, financial, consumer, public benefits, and
 housing issues, and (3) an intensive domestic violence probation
 officer from the Centre County Probation and Parole Department who was
 responsible for providing close supervision and follow-up of
 batterers. Researchers worked with practitioners to assess the
 development of newly-created positions to better serve domestic
 violence victims, evaluate performance of personnel in these
 positions, and examine activities associated with the development of a
 systemwide, inter-agency database. In addition to the development of
 these new positions, the police department also sought to improve how
 officers handled domestic violence cases through a two-day training
 program. The evaluation conducted pre- and post-training assessments
 of all personnel training in 1999 and conducted follow-up surveys to
 assess the long-term impact of training. The general goals of the
 process evaluation were to assess how and to what extent the State
 College Police Department's proposed activities were implemented as
 planned, based on the rationale that such activities would enhance the
 potential for increasing victim safety and perpetrator accountability
 systemically. However, this evaluation, as a process model, was not
 designed to test whether the proposed activities actually increased
 victim safety and perpetrator accountability (which would be
appropriate goals in an impact evaluation).
description: Researchers worked with practitioners to develop
 databases suitable for monitoring service provision by the three
 newly-created positions for domestic violence cases. Major categories
 of data collected on the victim tracking form (Parts 1 and 2) included
 location of initial contact, type of initial contact, referral source,
 reason for initial contact, service/ consultation provided at initial
 contact, meetings, and referrals out. Major categories of data
 collected on the offender tracking form (Part 3) included location of
 initial contact, type of initial contact, referral source, reason for
 initial contact, service/consultation provided, charges, sentence
 received, relationship between the victim and perpetrator, marital
 status, children in the home, referrals out, presentencing
 investigation completed, prior criminal history, and reason for
 termination. For Part 4, surveys were administered to law enforcement
 personnel participating in a two-day domestic violence training
 program. Surveys were administered both before and after the training
 program and focused on knowledge about domestic violence policies and
 protocols, attitudes and beliefs about domestic violence, and the
 background and experience of the officers. Within six months after the
 training, the same participants were contacted to complete a follow-up
 survey. This survey included questions about domestic violence
 incidents the officers encountered at work, how they worked with
non-law enforcement agencies, and input on future training.
description: Variables in Parts 1-3 include location and type of
 initial and follow-up contacts, reasons for initial and follow-up
 contacts, referral sources, and types of services offered at initial
 and follow-up contacts. In Parts 1 and 2, types of services provided
 include reporting abuse, filing a Protection from Abuse order, legal
 representation, and assistance with court procedures. In Part 3, types
 of services provided include pre-sentence investigation, placement on
 supervision, and assessment and evaluation. Part 3 also includes
 variables on the family and living situation of offenders, as well as
 prior criminal history. Variables in Part 4 measured how well officers
 knew domestic violence arrest policies, their attitudes toward abused
 women and how to handle domestic violence cases, and their opinions
 about training. Demographic variables in Part 4 include age, sex,
race, education, and years in law enforcement.
description: Response Rates: Parts 1-3: Not applicable. Part 4: The pre- and
 post-training surveys had response rates of 100 percent and the
follow-up survey had a response rate of 56 percent.
description: Presence of Common Scales: Several Likert-type scales were used in Part 4.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Victim Tracking Data From Domestic Violence Coordinator
DS2: Victim Tracking Data From Victim Services Attorney
DS3: Offender Tracking Data
DS4: Police Training Survey Data
description: Parts 1-3: All domestic violence victims and offenders in
 State College, Pennsylvania, between 1999 and 2000. Part 4: All law
 enforcement officers participating in domestic violence training from
the State College Police Department in 1999.
description: (1) The data available in this collection are part of
 a broader evaluation project. Other components of the evaluation that
 are not available through this data collection include the evaluation
 of a fourth newly-created position (safety auditor coordinator),
 tracking time spent on various activities by the newly-created
 positions, and a survey of non-law enforcement personnel who
 participated in the domestic violence training program. Users are
 strongly encouraged to obtain the Final Report for this project in
 order to understand the entire process evaluation. (2) The user guide,
 codebook, and data collection instruments are provided by ICPSR as
 Portable Document Format (PDF) files. The PDF file format was
 developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF
 reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how
 to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided on the ICPSR Web
site.