Evaluating The Impact of a Specialized Domestic Violence Police Unit

This project will focus on the efficiency and effectiveness of a specialized domestic violence (DV) unit (DVU) in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg (North Carolina) Police Department (CMPD). The researchers will establish standardized, objective screening criteria to assign cases to this unit, which reviews all DV reports and selects the most serious for intensive intervention.
The project goals are to determine (1) whether DV cases (both victimization and offending) assigned to the DVU track have lower recidivism (prevalence, incidence, and severity) rates than do cases assigned to the officer track; (2) for each processing track, which victim, offender, and case characteristics best predict lower recidivism; (3) which program services are associated with selected case outcomes such as lower recidivism rates and higher rates of prosecution, conviction, and victim compliance; (4) whether there is a difference across tracks in the likelihood of future arrest of the victim for violence against his or her abusive partner; and (5) whether cases assigned only to DVU detectives have higher conviction and prosecution rates, lower recidivism rates, and higher proportions of victims actively seeking support services and becoming actively involved in the court process.

ca/ncf