ABSTRACT
This chapter presents findings from a domestic-violence demonstration program, sponsored by a family service agency in Chicago. It focuses on the program's efforts, as a strategy of social change to encourage police to report accurately incidents of domestic violence. The chapter examines how more than 201,000 disturbance calls were classified. It also examines the relationship between calls verified as true domestic-violence incidents and the nearly 3,300 referrals police made to the Illinois Domestic Violence Act (IDVA) program. The director of the IDVA program attended roll call in each of the participating police districts and educated the police on the program's services. Most police officers reported to the program director that they had few positive experiences in dealing with domestic violence. The Chicago police collected data on more than 149,000 calls regarding domestic violence that were made to the two police districts in which the program initially operated from January 1, 1983, through October 31, 1986.
