Citation

Shields JP. Best Practi. Ment. Health 2008; 4(1): 65-73.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Lyceum Books)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Policies and procedures governing police responses to domestic violence incidents were recently modified due to the growing awareness of the impact of domestic violence on children and the realization that law enforcement systems have traditionally struggled to respond appropriately to families experiencing domestic violence. In this study, over 3,000 felony domestic violence investigation files collected by the San Francisco Police Department between June 2003 and December 2004 were reviewed in order to assess the quality of police documentation regarding domestic violence incidents, family characteristics, and whether or not children witnessed the domestic violence. Results of the review suggest that police documentation has improved significantly over the past few years, but problems in data quality remain. Police files were significantly more likely to contain required supplemental incident reporting forms when police officers documented the presence of a child at the scene. The study concludes that police could play a more significant role not only in the prevention of children's exposure to domestic violence but also in the prevention of exposure-associated effects if they were more systematic in their compliance with policy-mandated documentation procedures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)