DOI: 10.3886/icpsr20461.v1
title: Evaluating the Impact of a Specialized Domestic Violence Police Unit in Charlotte, North Carolina, 2003-2005
title: Version 1

description: The specific goals of this project were (1) to assess the selection criteria used to determine the domestic violence cases for intensive intervention: what criteria are used, and what differentiates how cases are handled, (2) to track the outcomes through Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD), Mecklenburg domestic violence court, and the Mecklenburg jail for the different methods of dealing with the cases, and (3) to provide an assessment of the relative effectiveness of a specialized domestic violence unit vis-a-vis normal patrol unit responses in terms of repeat calls, court processing, victim harm, and repeat arrests. The population from which the sample was selected consisted of all police complaint numbers for cases involving domestic violence (DV) in 2003. The unit of analysis was therefore the domestic violence incident. Cases were selected using a randomized stratified sample (stratifying by month) that also triple-sampled DV Unit cases, which generated 255 DV Unit cases for inclusion. The final sample therefore consists of 891 domestic violence cases, each involving one victim and one suspect. Within this final sample of cases, 25 percent were processed by the DV Unit. The data file contains data from multiple sources. Included from the police department's computerized database (KBCOPS) are variables pertaining to the nature of the crime, victim information and suspect information such as suspect and victim demographic data, victim/offender relationship, highest offense category, weapon usage, victim injury, and case disposition status. From police narratives come such variables as victim/offender relationship, weapon use (more refined than what is included in KBCOPS data), victim injury (also a more refined measure), and evidence collected. Variables from tracking data include information regarding the nature of the offense, the level/type of harm inflicted, and if the assault involved the same victim in the sample. Variables such as amount of jail time a suspect may have had, information pertaining to the court charges (as opposed to the charges at arrest) and case disposition status are included from court and jail data.
description: The specific goals of this project were (1) to assess the selection criteria used to determine the domestic violence cases for intensive intervention: what criteria are used, and what differentiates how cases are handled, (2) to track the outcomes through Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD), Mecklenburg domestic violence court, and the Mecklenburg jail for the different methods of dealing with the cases, and (3) to provide an assessment of the relative effectiveness of a specialized domestic violence unit vis-a-vis normal patrol unit responses in terms of repeat calls, court processing, victim harm, and repeat arrests.
description: The population from which the sample was selected consisted of all police complaint numbers for cases involving domestic violence (DV) in 2003. The population was limited to only the 2003 calendar year for both practical and methodological reasons. From a practical standpoint, in 2003 the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department upgraded their computer management database for police complaints. Whereas data prior to 2003 was still available, extracting it into a format that was compatible with statistical software packages was not easily done. Researchers therefore chose to focus their evaluation on only those data in the newer database. From a methodological standpoint, the researchers limited the population to only the 2003 data to allow for an ample and meaningful follow-up period with which to document repeat offending and repeat victimization. These follow-up data were collected in 2005, thereby establishing a follow-up period of as much as 24 months. The unit of analysis was therefore the domestic violence incident. Cases were selected using a randomized stratified sample (stratifying by month) that also triple-sampled DV Unit cases, which generated 255 DV Unit cases for inclusion. As a result of methodological and statistical concerns, all cases involving multiple victims, multiple suspects and/or dual aggressors were dropped from the preliminary sample of 1,000 cases. The final sample therefore consists of 891 domestic violence cases, each involving one victim and one suspect. Within this final sample of cases, 25 percent were processed by the DV Unit.
description: The data file contains data from multiple sources. Included from the KBCOPS data are variables pertaining to the nature of the crime, victim information and suspect information such as suspect and victim demographic data, victim/offender relationship, highest offense category, weapon usage, victim injury and, case disposition status. From the police narratives come such variables as victim/offender relationship, weapon use (more refined that what is included in the KBCOPS data), victim injury (also a more refined measure), and evidence collected. Variables from the tracking data include information regarding the nature of the offense, the level/type of harm inflicted, and if the assault involved the same victim in the sample. Variables such as amount of jail time a suspect may have had, information pertaining to the court charges (as opposed to the charges at arrest), and case disposition status are included from the court/jail data.
description: none
description: Response Rates: Not applicable.
description: Presence of Common Scales: none
description: A total of 6,892 domestic violence complaint numbers were included in the population. The preliminary sample used in this evaluation consisted of 1,000 cases. These cases were selected using a randomized stratified sample (stratifying by month) that also triple-sampled DV Unit cases. The decision to over-sample these cases was based on the low base-rate of DV Unit cases in the population (approximately 8 percent). Whereas a proportional stratified sample would have theoretically included just 80 DV Unit cases, the disproportionate stratified sampling technique generated 255 DV Unit cases for inclusion. During the course of collecting and coding data for the preliminary sample of 1,000 cases, many were found to be either cases with multiple victims or cases with multiple suspects, and/or dual assault cases in which both parties were determined to be aggressors against one another. These cases presented unique challenges. First, the information in police records was not always sufficient in determining which of the assaultive behaviors could be attributed to which of the multiple suspects. Similarly, determining the level of harm each of the multiple victims may have experienced was not always sufficiently explained. As a result, coding the suspect's role in the assault and the victim's injury in these cases could not be completed with a high degree of confidence. Furthermore, these cases presented statistical concerns. For example, in cases with multiple suspects, the processing of these offenders likely would have been very similar. For example, if the victim chose to testify against one suspect, he/she likely would testify against the second, i.e., if the case were determined to be unfounded for one suspect, it likely would be unfounded for the other, etc. This inherent correlation in outcomes violates the assumption of independent observations that is made when using the domestic violence incident as the unit of analysis. As a result of these methodological and statistical concerns, all cases involving multiple victims, multiple suspects and/or dual aggressors were dropped from the preliminary sample of 1,000 cases. The final sample therefore consists of 891 domestic violence cases, each involving one victim and one suspect. Within this final sample of cases, 25 percent were processed by the DV Unit.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Evaluating the Impact of a Specialized Domestic Violence Police Unit in Charlotte, North Carolina, 2003-2005
description: All police complaint numbers for cases involving domestic violence in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2003.
description: record abstracts