DOI: 10.3886/icpsr03488
title: Evaluation of a Centralized Response to Domestic Violence by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department Domestic Violence Unit, 1998-1999
title: Archival Version

description: 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.
description: This study examined the implementation of a
 specialized domestic violence unit within the San Diego County
 Sheriff's Department to determine whether creation of the new unit
 would lead to increased and improved reporting, and more filings for
 prosecution. The study was conducted by the San Diego Association of
 Governments (SANDAG), and supported by the National Institute of
 Justice (NIJ). The researchers tried to answer these questions: (1)
 Was the San Diego County Sheriff's Department Domestic Violence Unit
 implemented as stated in the project proposal? (2) What features of
 the project describe specialization? (3) What types of training are
 provided to investigators in a specialized domestic violence unit? (4)
 How effective is a specialized approach in impacting the response of
 field deputies who are the first responders to domestic violence
 calls? (5) What are the nature and scope of coordination and
 collaboration with other agencies providing services in the domestic
violence area?
description: 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 when there was
 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. Prior to being contacted
 by the researchers, unit staff would first call the victims to explain
 the purpose and nature of the interviews. Detectives were provided
 with a script to use that assured the victims that their participation
 was voluntary, their information would be considered confidential, and
 that their willingness to participate would not affect their
 case. When researchers contacted the victim, they identified
 themselves as such, reminded the victim that he or she had previously
 agreed to be interviewed, and reminded the victim of the purpose of the
 interview. Researchers again assessed victim privacy, sense of safety,
 and appropriateness of the time. Two female researchers conducted all
 46 interviews. To allow time for the detectives to follow up with the
 victims, the victims were contacted two weeks following the date of
the incident.
description: 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.
description: Response Rates: Part 1 and 2: Not applicable. Part 3: 65
percent.
description: Presence of Common Scales: Several Likert-type scales were used.
description: Random sampling.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Deputy Survey Data
DS2: Case Tracking Data
DS3: Victim Survey Data
description: Domestic violence cases in San Diego County entered into
the case tracking system from July 26 to September 11, 1999.
description: (1) This data collection is a follow-up of a previous
 study conducted by the principal investigators in 1996. Users can
 refer to the final report for information on the 1996 study. (2) The
 user guide, codebook, and data collection instruments are provided by
 ICPSR as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. 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.