Recording of offences on police domestic violence call outs

ABSTRACT

Due to new legislation passed in 2011, Finnish police have been legally obligated to record and investigate all assaults, including petty assaults, occurring in close relationships. Referred to as domestic violence (DV), these assaults can be prosecuted even without victim consent. Much like pro- and mandatory arrest policies, this reform was aimed at decreasing victim and police discretion, based on the assumption that recording and preliminary investigation of every DV incident would help prevent further violence. Comparison between police call outs and the number of offences indicate that in reality not every DV incident is recorded. Using Police and Emergency Call Database data merged with 410 police officer survey responses, the current study presents the first empirical results on legal and extra-legal factors associated with recording DV as an offence in Finland. Factors explaining non-recording are discussed based on police officers’ free-text comments, and implications for policy and practice are presented.