Policing nonfatal strangulation within the context of intimate partner violence
Policing: An International Journal
ISSN: 1363-951X
Article publication date: 29 April 2021
Issue publication date: 5 October 2021
Abstract
Purpose
The current study examined police response, specifically identification and arrest decisions, to nonfatal strangulation occurring within the context of intimate partner violence.
Design/methodology/approach
Data for the present study were derived from a sample of 117 possible nonfatal strangulation case reported to a police agency located in one of the fifth largest and most diverse US cities. A series of logistic regression models were employed to examine the role of victim, suspect and case characteristics on officer formal identification of strangulation and officer arrest decisions.
Findings
Results revealed that 14% of all intimate partner violence (IPV) cases reported to the police agency involved possible nonfatal strangulation and less than half of all possible nonfatal strangulation cases were formally identified as such by officers. The odds of formal identification of strangulation by police increased when strangulation was manual and when victims reported difficulty breathing. Injury and formal identification increased the odds of arrest.
Originality/value
This study is the first to examine predictors of police formal identification and arrest decisions in nonfatal strangulation occurring within intimate partner violence incidents.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This project was supported by Grant No. 2016-SI-AX-0005 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this presentation are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women. The authors would like to thank the police partner agency for their cooperation and the supervisory staff at the Special Victims' Division for their assistance, support, and instructive feedback with this project.
The authors have no conflicts of interest.
Citation
Garza, A.D., Goodson, A. and Franklin, C.A. (2021), "Policing nonfatal strangulation within the context of intimate partner violence", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 44 No. 5, pp. 838-852. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-12-2020-0190
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited