The Effects of Arrest, Reporting to the Police, and Victim Services on Intimate Partner Violence

Objectives: To estimate the effects of three types of responses to intimate partner violence: (1) reporting of crime to the police, (2) arresting the suspect, and (3) receiving services from agencies other than the police that assist victims of crime. Methods: We obtained a nationally representative sample of 2,221 victims, using longitudinal records from the area-identified National Crime Victimization Survey from 1996 through 2012. To reduce the threat of nonrandom selection into treatment, we estimated effects using propensity score matched and weighted survival analysis. Results: Victims’ probability of repeat victimization is not related to arrest (hazard ratio, 0.87; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.55 to 1.40; p = .57). In contrast, the reporting of crime to the police is associated with a 34 percent reduction in the risk of repeat victimization (hazard ratio, 0.66; 95 percent CI, 0.53 to 0.82; p < .001), and the use of victim services is associated with a 40 percent reduction in the risk of repeat victimization (hazard ratio, 0.60; 95 percent CI, 0.44 to 0.83; p < .01). Conclusions: The results support a model in which the deterrent effect of arrest is not substantively important, but police notification and victim-centered services produce important reductions in repeat victimization.