DOI: 10.3886/icpsr03282.v1
title: Evaluating a Multi-Disciplinary Response to Domestic Violence in Colorado Springs, 1996-1999
title: Version 1

description: The Colorado Springs Police Department formed a
 nontraditional domestic violence unit in 1996 called the Domestic
 Violence Enhanced Response Team (DVERT). This unit involved a
 partnership and collaboration with the Center for the Prevention of
 Domestic Violence, a private, nonprofit victim advocacy organization,
 and 25 other city and county agencies. DVERT was unique in its focus
 on the safety of the victim over the arrest and prosecution of the
 batterer. It was also different from the traditional police model for
 a special unit because it was a systemic response to domestic violence
 situations that involved the coordination of criminal justice, social
 service, and community-based agencies. This study is an 18-month
 evaluation of the DVERT unit. It was designed to answer the following
 research and evaluation questions: (1) What were the activities of
 DVERT staff? (2) Who were the victims and perpetrators of domestic
 violence? (3) What were the characteristics of domestic
 violence-related incidents in Colorado Springs and surrounding
 jurisdictions? (4) What was the nature of the intervention and
 prevention activities of DVERT? (5) What were the effects of the
 intervention? (6) What was the nature and extent of the collaboration
 among criminal justice agencies, victim advocates, and city and county
 human services agencies? (7) What were the dynamics of the
 collaboration? and (8) How successful was the collaboration? At the
 time of this evaluation, the DVERT program focused on three levels of
 domestic violence situations: Level I included the most lethal
 situations in which a victim might be in serious danger, Level II
 included moderately lethal situations in which the victim was not in
 immediate danger, and Level III included lower lethality situations in
 which patrol officers engaged in problem-solving. Domestic violence
 situations came to the attention of DVERT through a variety of
 mechanisms. Most of the referrals came from the Center for the
 Prevention of Domestic Violence. Other referrals came from the
 Department of Human Services, the Humane Society, other law
 enforcement agencies, or city service agencies. Once a case was
 referred to DVERT, all relevant information concerning criminal and
 prosecution histories, advocacy, restraining orders, and human
 services documentation was researched by appropriate DVERT member
 agencies. Referral decisions were made on a weekly basis by a group
 of six to eight representatives from the partner agencies. From its
 inception in May 1996 to December 31, 1999, DVERT accepted 421 Level I
 cases and 541 Level II cases. Cases were closed or deactivated when
 DVERT staff believed that the client was safe from harm. Parts 1-4
 contain data from 285 Level I DVERT cases that were closed between
 July 1, 1996, and December 31, 1999. Parts 5-8 contain data from 515
 Level II cases from 1998 and 1999 only, because data were more
 complete in those two years. Data were collected from (1) police
 records of the perpetrator and victim, including calls for service,
 arrest reports, and criminal histories, (2) DVERT case files,
 and (3) Center for the Prevention of Domestic Violence files on
 victims. Coding sheets were developed to capture the information
 within these administrative documents. Part 1 includes data on whether
 the incident produced injuries or a risk to children, whether the
 victim, children, or animals were threatened, whether weapons were
 used, if there was stalking or sexual abuse, prior criminal history,
 and whether there was a violation of a restraining order. For Part 2
 data were gathered on the date of case acceptance to the DVERT program
 and deactivation, if the offender was incarcerated, if the victim was
 in a new relationship or had moved out of the area, if the offender
 had moved or was in treatment, if the offender had completed a
 domestic violence class, and if the offender had served a
 sentence. Parts 3 and 4 contain information on the race, date of
 birth, gender, employment, and relationship to the victim or offender
 for the offenders and victims, respectively. Part 5 includes data on
 the history of emotional, physical, sexual, and child abuse, prior
 arrests, whether the victim took some type of action against the
 offender, whether substance abuse was involved, types of injuries that
 the victim sustained, whether medical care was necessary, whether a
 weapon was used, restraining order violations, and incidents of
 harassment, criminal trespassing, telephone threats, or
 kidnapping. Part 6 variables include whether the case was referred to
 and accepted in Level I and whether a DVERT advocate made contact on
 the case. Part 7 contains information on the offenders' race and
 gender. Part 8 includes data on the victims' date of birth, race, and
gender.
description: In the 1980s the Colorado Springs Police
 Department (CSPD) participated in the replication of the Minneapolis
 spouse assault experiment. It was one of six sites that implemented a
 randomized experiment to test the notion that arresting domestic
 violence perpetrators could reduce subsequent recidivism. Learning
 from that experience, the CSPD formed a nontraditional domestic
 violence unit in 1996 called the Domestic Violence Enhanced Response
 Team (DVERT). This unit involved a partnership and collaboration with
 the Center for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, a private,
 nonprofit victim advocacy organization, and 25 other city and county
 agencies. DVERT was unique in its focus on the safety of the victim
 over the arrest and prosecution of the batterer. It was also
 different from the traditional police model for a special unit because
 it was a systemic response to domestic violence situations that
 involved the coordination of criminal justice, social service, and
 community-based agencies. DVERT encouraged efforts to establish
 communication among criminal justice and service agencies, to
 establish advocacy services to meet victims' needs, and to implement
 policies aimed toward more aggressive apprehension and sanctioning of
 offenders. This project was an 18-month evaluation of the DVERT
 unit. It was designed to answer the following research and evaluation
 questions: (1) What were the activities of DVERT staff? (2) Who were
 the victims and perpetrators of domestic violence? (3) What were the
 characteristics of domestic violence-related incidents in Colorado
 Springs and surrounding jurisdictions? (4) What was the nature of the
 intervention and prevention activities of DVERT? (5) What were the
 effects of the intervention? (6) What was the nature and extent of
 the collaboration among criminal justice agencies, victim advocates,
 and city and county human services agencies? (7) What were the
 dynamics of the collaboration? and (8) How successful was the
collaboration?
description: At the time of this evaluation, the DVERT program
 focused on three levels of domestic violence situations: Level I
 included the most lethal situations in which a victim might be in
 serious danger, Level II included moderately lethal situations in
 which the victim was not in immediate danger, and Level III included
 lower lethality situations in which patrol officers engaged in
 problem-solving. Domestic violence situations came to the attention of
 DVERT through a variety of mechanisms. Most of the referrals came from
 the Center for the Prevention of Domestic Violence. Other referrals
 came from the Department of Human Services, the Humane Society, other
 law enforcement agencies, or city service agencies. Once a case was
 referred to DVERT, all relevant information concerning criminal and
 prosecution histories, advocacy, restraining orders, and human
 services documentation was researched by appropriate DVERT member
 agencies. Referral decisions were made on a weekly basis by a group
 of six to eight representatives from the partner agencies. From its
 inception in May 1996 to December 31, 1999, DVERT accepted 421 Level I
 cases and 541 Level II cases. Cases were closed or deactivated when
 DVERT staff believed that the client was safe from harm. Parts 1-4
 contain data from 285 Level I DVERT cases that were closed between
 July 1, 1996, and December 31, 1999. Parts 5-8 contain data from 515
 Level II cases from 1998 and 1999 only, because data were more
 complete in those two years. Data were collected from (1) police
 records of the perpetrator and victim, including calls for service,
 arrest reports, and criminal histories, (2) DVERT case files,
 and (3) Center for the Prevention of Domestic Violence files on
 victims. Coding sheets were developed to capture the information
within these administrative documents.
description: Part 1 includes data on whether the incident
 produced injuries or a risk to children, whether the victim, children,
 or animals were threatened, whether weapons were used, if there was
 stalking or sexual abuse, prior criminal history, and whether there
 was a violation of a restraining order. For Part 2 data were gathered
 on the date of case acceptance to the DVERT program and deactivation,
 if the offender was incarcerated, if the victim was in a new
 relationship or had moved out of the area, if the offender had moved
 or was in treatment, if the offender had completed a domestic violence
 class, and if the offender had served a sentence. Parts 3 and 4
 contain information on the race, date of birth, gender, employment,
 and relationship to the victim or offender for the offenders and
 victims, respectively. Part 5 includes data on the history of
 emotional, physical, sexual, and child abuse, prior arrests, whether
 the victim took some type of action against the offender, whether
 substance abuse was involved, types of injuries that the victim
 sustained, whether medical care was necessary, whether a weapon was
 used, restraining order violations, and incidents of harassment,
 criminal trespassing, telephone threats, or kidnapping. Part 6
 variables include whether the case was referred to and accepted in
 Level I and whether a DVERT advocate made contact on the case. Part 7
 contains information on the offenders' race and gender. Part 8
includes data on the victims' date of birth, race, and gender.
description: Response Rates: Not applicable.
description: Presence of Common Scales: None.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Level I Accepted Cases Data
DS2: Level I Deactivated Cases Data
DS3: Level I Offender Data
DS4: Level I Victim Data
DS5: Level II Accepted Cases Data
DS6: Level II Deactivated Cases Data
DS7: Level II Offender Data
DS8: Level II Victim Data
description: Parts 1-4: All Level I DVERT cases that were closed
 between July 1, 1996, and December 31, 1999. Parts 5-8: Level II DVERT
cases from 1998 and 1999.
description: (1) Parts 1-4 contain data for 285 Level I cases. Part
 2 has less than 285 records because deactivation data were not
 available for all cases. Part 4 has more than 285 records because some
 cases had multiple victims. Parts 5-8 contain data for 515 Level II
 cases from 1998-1999. The case counts for Parts 5-8 vary because all
 information was not available for every case depending on how far
 along the case was in the process. (2) Data in Parts 1-4 and Parts 5-8
 can be merged into one Level I and one Level II file, respectively,
 using the DVERT case number to match cases across files. A merged file
 for Level II would have a large amount of missing data due to the
 different case counts among the files. (3) The user guide and codebook
 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.