“It Happens All the Time”: Women’s Experiences and Normalization of Sexual Harassment in Public Space

This study explored the prevalence of sexual harassment, consequences of harassment, and reasons for not reporting these experiences through a survey among Swedish female university students (N?=?1941). One fourth reported one or more incidents of sexual harassment during the 12 months period prior to the survey. Victims were more often younger and with Swedish-born parents compared with nonvictims. Victimization most frequently occurred at clubs or restaurants and the most frequently reported consequences were anger and worry about being victimized again. Few reported the incidents to the police making this, in part, an invisible problem.     

Police-reported school violence among children below the age of criminal responsibility in Sweden – signs of increased sensitivity and segregation?

Since the 1980s in Sweden, children’s violent actions in schools have been reported to the police as criminal offences more frequently than before. This increasing trend is analysed against the background of a general increased cultural sensitivity to violence and slowly developing social changes that affect the propensity to report every form of violent incident to the police. This project analyses 1,239 police reports of assault, unlawful threat, molestation and insulting behaviour committed in schools by 7- to 14-year olds in ten municipalities in the Stockholm area. The time period studied is from 2000 to 2010. Regression analysis shows systematic differences among schools in different areas and social contexts. Average merit ratings, which are a measure of the educational quality of schools, explain most of the variance and correlate negatively with reported incidents. There are also significant differences among municipalities and school forms in terms of police reports. So-called resource schools, which are designed to serve children with special needs, report extremely high numbers of incidents per child. Reporting seems to have been routinised in many schools, including resource schools. Our results can be interpreted as suggesting that increased cultural sensitivity generates a bias against children in less affluent contexts.     

The Influence of Legal Reform on the Probability of Arrest in Domestic Violence Cases

Using domestic violence incidence and arrest data from Maryland (1991–1997), this research examines whether the proportion of incidents that result in arrest increased due to a legislative initiative implemented in 1994 and, if so, whether this change is uniform across different types of offenders (race and gender) and offense characteristics. Using interrupted time‐series analysis (ARIMA), we observe an increase in both the number of incidents reported to police and the percent of reported cases resulting in arrest. The legislative intervention has a significant positive impact on arrest likelihood above and beyond the increase over time for the state as a whole. While arrest probabilities increased across the board for males and females, African American and Whites, the ARIMA models do not suggest that the legislation differentially impacted arrest probabilities for these groups.     

Children's experiences of domestic violence: developing an integrated response from police and child protection services

Police notifications of incidents of domestic violence to child protection services constitute an acknowledgement of the harm that domestic violence inflicts on children. However, these notifications represent a substantial demand on child welfare services and the outcomes for children and victims of domestic violence have been questioned. This paper presents findings from the first UK study to examine these notifications in depth and examines the interface between the police and child protection services in responding to domestic violence incidents. The research reports on police interventions in 251 incidents of domestic violence involving children; the communication of information to child protection services and the subsequent filtering and service response. Social workers found that notifications conveyed little information on children's experiences of domestic violence. Forty per cent of families notified had had no previous contact with child protection services in that area, but those cases most likely to receive social work assessment or intervention were those where the case was already open. Notifications triggered a new social work intervention in only 5% of cases. The study also identified a range of innovative approaches for improving the co-ordination of police and child protective services in relation to children's exposure to domestic violence. Arrangements that maximized opportunities for police and social workers to share agency information appeared to offer the best option for achieving informed decisions about the appropriate level of service response to children and families experiencing domestic violence.     

The Influence of Places on Police Decision Pathways: From Call for Service to Arrest

Research on factors that influence police discretion usually focuses on individual or situational characteristics (e.g., an officer or citizen's age, race or gender, or the seriousness of the incident). In contrast, this study examines whether characteristics of places influence police decisions to “upgrade” or “downgrade” their response to incidents. Earlier research is expanded in three ways: first, rather than examining an isolated decision within the series of decisions that make up an incident, a series of chronological decisions within a “decision‐making pathway” is derived and analyzed. Second, multiple categories of racial and ethnic composition of places and their influence on police decision‐making pathways are examined. Third, decision pathways of a variety of incidents at small geographic places are compared across an entire jurisdiction. Findings indicate that, even when controlling for the level of violence, places with a greater proportion of Black or wealthy residents significantly influence officers' decisions to downgrade crime classifications and actions taken on incidents reported to the police.     

Police response to physical assault and stalking victimization: A comparison of influential factors

The current study uses the National Violence Against Women Survey to examine factors associated with criminal justice system involvement in incidents of male physical violence and stalking against women. While both stalking and physical domestic assault incidents are more likely to be reported to the police if the victim is female or if the offender has used threats, only physical domestic assaults are less likely to be reported to the police when the offender is familiar. Additionally, when considering formal police responses, there are very few similarities across the models for physical domestic assault and stalking. These findings show that physical domestic assault and stalking are two unique types of crimes and should be considered separately in any analysis of factors affecting legal decisions and responses to domestic violence.     

Protection orders protect against assault and injury: a longitudinal study of police-involved women victims of intimate partner violence

The objective of this study was to measure the efficacy of protection orders (POs) in reducing assault and injury-related outcomes using a matched comparison group and tracking outcomes over time. This study was a retrospective review of police, emergency department, family court, and prosecutor administrative records for a cohort of police-involved female IPV victims; all events over a 4-year study period were abstracted. Victims who obtained POs were compared with a propensity-score-based match group without POs over three time periods: Before, During, and After the issuance of a PO. Having a PO in place was associated with significantly more calls to police for nonassaultive incidents and more police charging requests that were of multiple-count and felony-level. Comparing outcomes, PO victims had police incident rates that were more than double the matched group prior to the PO but dropped to the level of the matched group during and after the order. ED visits dropped over time for both groups. This study confirmed the protective effect of POs, which are associated with reduced police incidents and emergency department visits both during and after the order and reduced police incidents compared with a matched comparison group.     

Firearm Deaths by Law Enforcement

Abstract:  The use of deadly force during law enforcement is a matter that compels public scrutiny. There were 42 gunshot deaths caused by police over a 4-year period in New York City. The decedents' average age was 31 years and ranged from 17 to 64 years. There were 41 males and one female; and 26 Black, nine Hispanic, and seven White decedents. Ethanol and/or drugs of abuse were detected in 78% (31/40) of the decedents. The vast majority of shootings occurred with the police responding to a crime and 90% of the decedents were armed (26 handguns, six knives, one axe, one metal pipe, and one toy gun). Vehicles were used as weapons in two incidents. A total of 177 bullets struck the 42 decedents. Fourteen decedents sustained single gunshot wounds (GSWs), and the remainder had multiple GSWs ranging from 2 to 21. In the majority of the cases in this study, the number of GSWs of the body was three or fewer. Thirteen decedents had at least one GSW of the back or buttocks, accounting for 25 of the total 177 wounds, and four of the 13 had GSWs of only the back. With the exception of the upper extremities, GSWs of all locations were more likely to penetrate than perforate. Although these deaths may be high profile, the certification is typically straightforward and the cause (i.e., GSW) and manner of death (homicide) are readily apparent. Although police shootings in which the decedent was unarmed and/or sustained numerous GSWs are widely reported by the lay press, these types of shootings were not typical in our study.     

An Examination of the Assumption that Adult Businesses Are Associated with Crime in Surrounding Areas: A Secondary Effects Study in Charlotte, North Carolina

Recent Supreme Court decisions have signaled the need for sound empirical studies of the secondary effects of adult businesses on the surrounding areas for use in conjunction with local zoning restrictions. This study seeks to determine whether a relationship exists between adult erotic dance clubs and negative secondary effects in the form of increased numbers of crimes reported in the areas surrounding the adult businesses, in Charlotte, North Carolina. For each of 20 businesses, a control site (matched on the basis of demographic characteristics related to crime risk) is compared for crime events over the period of three years (1998–2000) using data on crime incidents reported to the police. We find that the presence of an adult nightclub does not increase the number of crime incidents reported in localized areas surrounding the club (defined by circular areas of 500- and 1,000-foot radii) as compared to the number of crime incidents reported in comparable localized areas that do not contain such an adult business. Indeed, the analyses imply the opposite, namely, that the nearby areas surrounding the adult business sites have smaller numbers of reported crime incidents than do corresponding areas surrounding the three control sites studied. These findings are interpreted in terms of the business mandates of profitability and continuity of existence of the businesses.     

Injuries due to deliberate violence in Chile

An analysis was made over a period of 6 months of the incidents involving deliberate violence as registered in 'Vicaria', the clinic for out-patients within the Cathedral of Santiago de Chile. A total of 236 victims of deliberate violence were observed. Men aged 15-24 years were found to be victims of deliberate violence most frequently. 'Under education' was the most frequently registered occupation for both sexes, and a large group of male victims were 'Unemployed'. 82% of the victims were men and 14% women, 1.5% were boys and 1.5% girls less than or equal to 14 years of age. None of the victims were alcohol intoxicated when arriving in the clinic. The incidents took place in streets for 81% of the male victims and 79% of the female victims, and in the majority of the cases the aggressor(s) was one (or several) police officer(s). Six percent of the female victims had been injured at home. There was no reporting of the aggressor being a relative or acquaintance. The most frequent type of violence was blunt violence from baton(s) (44%), while blunt violence without the use of instruments was reported less frequently (33%). The use of firearms was registered in 18% of the cases, and of sharp instruments, combustion, electro-shock and chain in 1.4%, 1.4%, 1.1% and 0.4% of the cases respectively. A total of 517 primary and secondary diagnoses were applied to the patients. Most of the victims (99%) had moderate or less serious lesions according to the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) (score less than or equal to 2). Twenty-four percent of the victims had more than 4 lesions, and 7% more than 10 lesions. The head/neck region and the trunk were affected with equal frequency, the frequency of injuries of the head/neck region being comparable with that observed among torture victims and in contrast to the pronounced predominance of injuries of the head/neck region observed in a Danish emergency ward study of deliberate violence.     

公安民警维权法律规定的缺陷及完善

近年来,公安民警在执法过程中,遭受不法侵害的事件日益频繁,民警被谩骂、围攻、诬告陷害甚至暴力袭击的事件在各地不断发生。由于现行法律制度存在诸多问题,使得公安民警维权无法可依,严重影响了民警维权工作的开展。结合实例,分析现有法律制度在公安民警维权方面存在的问题,并提出完善民警维权的法律体系,提高对暴力袭警的惩罚力度等立法建议。     

Patterns of violence and self-harm in women prisoners: characteristics,co-incidence and clinical significance

Self-harm and violence in women’s prisons in England are common and occurring with increasing frequency. We aimed to describe the characteristics and patterns of violent and/or self-harming behaviours in women in prison by conducting a retrospective analysis of routine data about self-harm incidents and adjudications. Incidence rates of self-harm and violence were calculated and associated factors explored using logistic regression. We found that only 6.7% of 5486 women prisoners self-harmed and 7.9% had been violent. Eighty per cent of all self-harm incidents related to 70 women. Almost 4 in 10 women prisoners who self-harmed were also violent. Multiple incarcerations and court movements are associated with incidents of self-harm and violence. Women with high-frequency self-harm (≥6) began self-harming early in their custodial period. We conclude that women prisoners who are very behaviourally disturbed can and should be identified early. They warrant clinical formulation and multi-agency responses to risk. Those with high-frequency self-harm should be cared for by external health services.     

PRIVATE JUSTICE SYSTEMS AND CRIME REPORTING

The burgeoning need for private police to complement the activities of public police has added a new dimension to issues of reliability and validity of official statistics. For purposes of this study. shoplifting data generated by the private police sector were gathered from matched pairs of retail stores. The findings showed significant differences between stores by age and gender. Partitioning of contingency tables to localize the association to a particular category produced no systematic conclusions between the matched pairs of stores or among the full range of sampled stores. Differential law enforcement exercised by an untrained and unregulated private police force calls into question the concept of justice and the guarantees of due process.     

Critical incident reactions: A comparison of two studies ten years apart in the same police department

Conclusions The results of the 1993 survey can be interpreted as a validation of the findings of the 1983 study. Most of the common reactions to critical incidents that were documented in the earlier study were also reported in the later survey. It is certainly of interest to note that not only were most of the same reactions reported 10 years later, they were also reported in roughly the same frequency. This supports the idea that although what constitutes a critical incident varies from person to person, the reactions to critical incidents are fairly predictable. The number of surveys completed and returned in this study was over twice as great as the number returned in the 1983 study (a 49% return rate as compared to a 22% retum rate in 1983). This significant increase in the number of surveys returned suggests a greater awareness by officers regarding critical incidents. It may also suggest an increased willingness on the part of officers to identify reactions to critical incidents as predictable and “normal”. This shift in perception compared to perceptions in 1983 may be a result of the educational efforts of the Critical Incident Response Team members in Apprentice Police Officer Training, In-Service Training, and other informal training over the last 10 years. The core of that training has been to communicate the concept that reactions to critical incidents are normal, temporary, and treatable. It is hoped that training can continue to provide this “inoculation effect” which seems to reduce the possible negative, long-term impact of critical incidents on police officers who have been exposed to such situations.     

Patterns of reported parent-child abuse and police response

The present study examines the level and patterns of parent-child abuse incidents that come to the attention of the police. It also addresses the response of law enforcement to such incidents in an attempt to discover the determinants of official intervention. The findings indicate that both family status and gender influence the patterns of parent-child abuse reported to the police. Multivariate analysis revealed that the arrest decision was influenced most strongly by the seriousness of the incident, as measured by offense severity and extent of injury to the victim. The likelihood of arrest was also affected by the race of the offender, but the influence of this variable was mediated by the seriousness of the offense. The study highlights the role that the value system surrounding the family plays in the reporting of parent-child abuse incidents and in the police decision to intervene.     

Incident perception by British police officers

This study compared the perceptions of a group of experienced British police officers with those of a group of young British police officers and of a group of British civilians. Subjects were shown a videotape of an urban street corner scene which contained a number of staged incidents including criminal offenses, suspicious circumstances, and traffic offenses. They were asked to note down all the incidents which they perceived during the viewing of the videotape, No significant differences were found between the three groups in the total number of incidents identified. There was, however, a significant subject group by offense type interaction, with inexperienced police officers showing the highest reporting of traffic offenses and experienced police officers the lowest. In each group there was also an inverse relationship between the number of traffic offenses and criminal offenses/suspicious circumstances noted. This was particularly high in the inexperienced police officer group.     

Stereotypical Hate Crimes and Criminal Justice Processing: A Multi-Dataset Comparison of Bias Crime Arrest Patterns by Offender and Victim Race

Many hate crimes are not reported and even fewer hate crimes result in an arrest. This study investigates patterns of victim reporting and arrest for hate crimes in two parts. First, using data from the National Crime Victimization Survey, we find that, controlling for offense severity, hate crimes are less likely than non-bias crimes to be reported to the police and that the police are less likely to take further action for hate crimes, compared to non-hate crimes. Second, we use data from the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and the National Incident-Based Reporting System to compare differences between types of hate crimes in the likelihood of crime clearance. We find that those hate crimes most likely to result in arrest are those that fit the profile of a “stereotypical” hate crime: violent incidents, incidents committed by hate groups, and incidents involving white offenders and black victims.     

Hate crimes in Pennsylvania, 1984–99: Case characteristics and police responses

To gain a better understanding of factors related to the occurrence and processing of hate crimes, we examined 2,031 hate-crime incidents reported to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission from 1984 to 1998. The results of multilevel random coefficient analyses indicated that the frequency and severity of hate incidents, as well as police involvement in response to hate crimes, were significantly related to individual-and community-level influences. Furthermore, some characteristics of victims, offenders, and offenses were significant predictors of local police involvement, the composition of a county's population moderated the processing of hate crimes. Implications for reporting, policy, and future research on hate crimes are discussed.     

Substance Use and Abused Women's Utilization of the Police

There is extensive research that addresses the role of police in responding to domestic violence calls. However, there has been relatively little attention to the factors that impel women to call the police during an incident of abuse. This paper investigates the role of alcohol and drugs in influencing women's utilization of the police for misdemeanor-level incidents of abuse, and is based on interview data from 419 abused women. Results indicate that women are significantly more likely to call the police when male partners use both alcohol and drugs, and when they are frequently drunk. Offender drunkenness, rather than the quantity or frequency of alcohol consumption, has a significant escalation effect on police utilization by victims of abuse.     

Exploring the Disclosure of Forensic Evidence in Police Interviews with Suspects

Despite many years of empirical research focusing on investigative interviewing and detecting deception, very little research attention has been paid to the various types of evidence which feature in police interviews with suspects. In particular, the use of forensic evidence in the context of police interviews has not been previously considered, although in recent years the availability of various types of forensic analyses has dramatically increased. In the current study 398 experienced police interviewers from various countries completed a questionnaire about their experience of using various types of forensic evidence in interviews with suspects, as well as their perceptions regarding the strength of various sources of forensic information and how this may affect their interviewing strategy. The results indicated that although the participants have forensic evidence available in a large proportion of their interviews with suspects, the vast majority of police interviewers have received no training about how to interpret or use such forensic information. However, the perceived strength of forensic evidence was reported by some participants to affect their interview strategy and specifically the timing of the disclosure of such evidence during an interview. These findings are discussed with reference to police training and interview techniques, and suggestions for further research are offered.