Policing Domestic Violence: The Significance of Charging in the Post-Arrest Decision Making of Police Officers

Phillips, Scott W.; Gillham, James R.

doi:10.1891/1946-6560.1.2.200

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Second, research indicates organizational policies influence arrest decisions. There is a small body of literature regarding police arrest discretion in domestic violence cases (Phillips & Gillham, 2010; Sun, 2007; Trujillo & Ross, 2008), and this study did not directly query law enforcement officers about their child abuse charging decisions and discretion in domestic violence cases. In addition, studies indicate officers’ charging actions may influence the prosecution of the domestic violence incident, and in some cases, “No Drop” prosecutorial policies may influence police charging decisions (see Wooldredge & Thistlethwaite, 2005; Worrall, Ross, & McCord, 2006).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the end, this study fills a large gap regarding child abuse charging in domestic violence incidents and should serve as a platform for future research into police decision making and the enmeshment of child abuse and domestic violence. There is ample research that investigates police discretion in domestic violence cases (Finn & Bettis, 2006; Finn, Blackwell, Stalans, Studdard, & Dugan, 2004; Phillips & Gillham, 2010; Sun, 2007), and research should draw on these findings. Understanding the circumstances of law enforcement child abuse charging decisions is essential as they are often the first responders to domestic violence and, in some cases, child abuse; they may serve as a crucial point of intervention in the overlap of domestic violence and child abuse.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Predictors of Child Abuse Charges Within the Context of Domestic Violence Arrests

Roark

Knight

Olson

et al. 2016

Crime & Delinquency

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This article investigates how different factors of a domestic violence incident impact the likelihood of a child abuse charge within the context of domestic violence arrests. Data from 5,148 domestic violence arrests were used to test whether domestic violence-, incident-, and child-based predictors increased the likelihood of a child abuse charge. Logistic regression models of gender-stratified samples were employed to test for gender differences among domestic violence arrestees. The results demonstrated predictors affected men’s odds of a child abuse charge when compared with women. For men and women, children witnessing the domestic violence incident had the largest impact on a child abuse charge. These results contribute to the underdeveloped area of police response to child abuse in domestic violence cases.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictors of Child Abuse Charges Within the Context of Domestic Violence Arrests

Roark

Knight

Olson

et al. 2016

Crime & Delinquency

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“…Despite mandatory arrest laws, police retain some discretion in domestic violence arrest decisions. The police decision-making literature indicates that law enforcement officers may experience an internal conflict between mandatory arrest polices and their personal internal decision-making processes (Phillips and Gillham, 2010), and in spite of the preferred arrest policies, they retain a considerable amount of police discretion (Sun, 2007). Additional research has documented several factors external to the IPV incident that can influence an officer's decision to arrest.…”

Section: Police Discretionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictors of dual arrest for offenders involved in heterosexual domestic violence arrests

Roark

2016

Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies &Amp; Management

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of extra-legal and legal predictors on dual arrest outcome for men and women arrested for domestic violence. Design/methodology/approach – This study analyzed 4,163 heterosexual domestic violence incidents over a five-year period (2002-2006). Using bivariate analyses and gender-stratified logistic regression this study: identified the variables associated with dual arrest; identified the extra-legal and legal predictors’ of dual arrest; and determined whether there were significant differences between police dispositions of women and men. Findings – Bivariate analyses indicated that women were more likely to be dually arrested than men. For women, logistic regression analyses indicated who contacted the police increased their likelihood of dual arrest. For men, logistic regression analysis indicated being a victim in a prior domestic violence, who used alcohol and/or drugs, who contacted the police, and seriousness of incident impacted their likelihood of being dually arrested. Practical implications – Results demonstrate that law enforcement officers may not be recognizing male victims of domestic violence as legitimate victims. Originality/value – This research is situated within the larger body of literature around women and men arrested for domestic violence and contributes to the limited literature regarding the effect of men’s prior domestic violence victimization on dual arrest outcome.

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“…Many scholars have examined the implementation of a new policy or program in criminal justice generally and the police specifically. These studies, however, tended to focus on the street-level officer and their implementation of department program (Lurigio and Skogan, 1994) or state law (Eitle, 2005;Mastrofski et al, 1987;Phillips and Gillham, 2010).…”

Section: Current Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Attitudes of police supervisors: do volunteers fit into policing?

Phillips

Terrell-Orr²

2013

Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies &Amp; Management

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Purpose – Early research assumed there was a ubiquitous police culture that resisted change and outsiders. Recent scholarship questions this assumption, but most of the studies focussed on the attitudes of street-level police officers. This study examined the attitudes of police supervisors toward the use of volunteers in policing. The purpose of this paper is to examine general police attitudes held by police supervisors within the context of the use of volunteers in policing. Design/methodology/approach – Surveys were distributed to over 400 police supervisors attending the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) National Academy (NA) program. Items used to measure general police attitudes were borrowed from the Project on Policing Neighborhood study. These items were submitted to a factor analysis and three general police attitudes were identified (expectations for citizen involvement, expectations for order maintenance, and expectations for aggressive law enforcement). Other items were constructed to measures several aspects of using volunteers in policing. While the respondents are a convenience sample of police supervisors, they represent police agencies of various size, location, and type. Findings – Expectations for citizen involvement and order maintenance were significantly related to each of the volunteerism variables in ways that suggest openness if not acceptance to the use of volunteers in policing. These results were seen in the bivariate correlations and were sustained in the regression analysis. Police supervisors with an expectation of aggressive law enforcement, however, were not related to any volunteer measures. Research limitations/implications – The sample of police supervisors is a convenience sample of supervisors attending the FBI's NA, and it is likely that the results are not what would be expected from a random sample of police supervisors. Also, the survey instrument offered limited space for items, thus restricting the attitude questions that could be included. Still, these data from a nationwide sample of police supervisors lends support to the body of scholarship questioning the existence of a universal police culture where all police officers see the world the same way. Originality/value – There is a distinct lack of empirical research focussing on police supervisors, and what is available is limited in sample size and generalizability. This study can shed additional light on the salience of a pervasive and singular police culture. Further, an understanding of the attitudes of the police supervisors toward the use of volunteers in policing can be applied to other agencies that want to improve or implement a volunteer program.

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Policing Domestic Violence: The Significance of Charging in the Post-Arrest Decision Making of Police Officers

Cited by 9 publications

References 41 publications

Predictors of Child Abuse Charges Within the Context of Domestic Violence Arrests

Predictors of Child Abuse Charges Within the Context of Domestic Violence Arrests

Predictors of dual arrest for offenders involved in heterosexual domestic violence arrests

Attitudes of police supervisors: do volunteers fit into policing?

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