Summary
“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. 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. Nonfatal domestic violence includes serious violence (rape or sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault) and simple assaults committed by intimate partners, immediate family members, or other relatives. This report also includes data on the prevalence of arrests or charges filed related to these domestic violence victimizations and on the role of signed criminal complaints. Unless otherwise noted, the comparisons in this report are significant at the 95% confidence level.”--Pages 1-2.