The Nexus Between Intimate Partner Violence and Stalking: Examining the Arrest Decision

Abstract

<jats:p> The present study used a stratified random sample of 332 case files from a sizable, urban police department located in one of the five largest and most diverse U.S. cities to examine the effect of previous stalking on arrest decisions among intimate partner violence (IPV) cases. Relevant extralegal and legal case factors were estimated in a multivariate binary logistic regression model to determine correlates of arrest. Findings revealed that previous stalking behavior was not related to arrest. Evidence and physical injury significantly increased the odds of arrest. Presence of witnesses, alcohol involvement, and history of IPV also significantly increased the odds of arrest. Future research and policy implications are discussed. </jats:p>

Policing nonfatal strangulation within the context of intimate partner violence

“…It could be that police officers were unfamiliar with specific strangulation injuries, such as petechiae, which may have hindered their ability to formally identify nonfatal strangulation. Furthermore, this finding suggests that despite the nature or context, victim injury continues to play a substantial role in police decision-making, reiterating prior research on IPV case processing (Dichter et al , 2011; Durfee and Fetzer, 2016; Franklin et al , 2019; Garza et al , 2020; Tatum and Pence, 2015). To be sure, demonstrable injury often reflects the severity of violence and provides physical evidence of abuse, both of which can reduce police officers' discretion in decision-making (Dichter et al , 2011; Hirschel and Hutchison, 2001).…”

“…Considerable research has focused on the criminal legal system response to intimate partner violence (IPV) to increase victim safety, reporting, reduce re-victimization, arrest suspects, and adjudicate cases (Dichter et al , 2011; Garza et al , 2020; Martin, 1975; Sherman and Berk, 1984; Xie and Lynch, 2017). Despite substantial knowledge on system response to IPV, nonfatal strangulation has received limited attention from the criminal legal system, though advocates and medical professionals have long been aware of the lethality associated with strangulation (Pritchard et al , 2017; Taliaferro et al , 2009; Wilbur et al , 2001).…”

Situating Institutional Responses to Latina Intimate Partner Violence Victims: An Argument for a LatCrit Lens

“…Similarly, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has relied solely on ethnicity to capture an IPV prevalence of 34.4% for “Hispanic” women (Smith et al, 2017). Likewise, Garza et al’s (2020a) previous work on IPV case processing has noted the unreliability of capturing the Latinx identity in terms of criminal justice agency data related to IPV decision-making.…”

Providing Support to Victims: Police Officers’ Service Referral Provision and Advocate Involvement in Domestic Violence Incidents

“…Quantitative coding of each case file took 35 to 60 minutes, depending on the complexity of each incident and length of each case. Creation of variables relied upon affirmative, explicit mention of measures of interest (see Garza et al, 2020).…”

“…Existing efforts to understand shortcomings in police response to DV have predominantly assessed factors affecting formal decisions, such as arrest (Durfee & Fetzer, 2016;Franklin et al, 2019;Garza et al, 2020;Russell & Sturgeon, 2019). Comparatively less research has examined other informal decision-making processes, including victim service provision.…”