Police Response to Domestic Violence, 2006-2015   [open pdf - 1MB]

"An average of 1.3 million nonfatal domestic violence victimizations occurred annually in the United States during the 10-year aggregate period from 2006 to 2015. Police were notified of more than half (56%) of these victimizations (figure 1). When police responded to the scene, they took a report 78% of the time. The victim or other household member signed a criminal complaint against the offender in about half (48%) of victimizations reported to police. The offender was arrested or charges were filed in 39% of reported victimizations, either during the initial response or during the follow-up period. This report primarily uses data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) for the 10-year aggregate period 2006-15 to examine the reporting of nonfatal domestic violence victimizations to police and police response to these victimizations."