1999 Annual Report
Domestic Crimes
Domestic crimes include all offenses committed against family members, spouses and ex-spouses, roommates, romantic partners and ex-romantic partners. The Police Department generally responds to between 1,500 and 2,000 domestic calls for service each year, resulting in 700 to 1,000 incident reports and 250 to 350 arrests. Underreporting is a serious problem with domestic crimes (experts estimate that the police department receives a report for only one out of every three domestic crimes), so the reliability of these figures is uncertain.
Categorical Breakdown of Domestic Incidents
|
Crime |
1998 |
1999 |
Change |
|
Dispute/Disturbance (no physical abuse) |
258 |
268 |
+4% |
|
Simple Assault |
279 |
217 |
-22% |
|
Aggravated Assault |
99 |
111 |
+12% |
|
Violation of a Restraining Order |
96 |
111 |
+16% |
|
Threatening |
66 |
83 |
+26% |
|
Larceny |
23 |
41 |
+78% |
|
Telephone Calls |
23 |
36 |
+57% |
|
Vandalism |
37 |
30 |
-19% |
|
Burglary |
24 |
22 |
-8% |
|
Auto Theft |
3 |
6 |
+100% |
|
Indecent Assault |
1 |
4 |
+300% |
|
Robbery |
4 |
3 |
-25% |
|
Disorderly Conduct |
3 |
3 |
None |
|
Kidnapping |
3 |
3 |
None |
|
Check Forgery |
1 |
3 |
+200% |
|
Trespassing |
1 |
3 |
+200% |
|
Rape |
4 |
2 |
-50% |
|
Stalking |
1 |
2 |
+100% |
|
Peeping & Spying |
1 |
0 |
-100% |
|
Total |
911 |
948 |
+4% |
A large number of domestic calls to which officers respond involve no crime—simply a loud argument, classified as a “domestic disturbance.” In 1999, these calls made up 28% of all domestic reports. While not technically a crime, these domestic disturbances can still be a form of abuse, and they may escalate into more serious offenses if they go unaddressed. The second most common domestic incident, accounting for 23% of the total for 1999, are the “simple assaults” (assault without a weapon and with no serious injury). Aggravated assaults and restraining order violations each make up another 12 percent. Incidents occurred most often between romantic partners or ex-romantic partners (52%), and between spouses or ex-spouses (21%). A woman is victimized in three quarters of all domestic crime incidents.
In 34% of the domestic crimes reported (excluding “domestic disturbances”), Cambridge Police arrested someone at the scene. In over 61% of the cases involving Aggravated Assault or Simple Assault, the offender was arrested, a minor increase from the 60% from 1998. (In the domestic assaults in which the police did not make on-scene arrests, it was because the offender had fled the scene.)
The Cambridge Police have adopted a “zero tolerance” policy on domestic violence and make on-scene arrests for all domestic crimes in which an offender can be located. Domestic violence crosses all socio-economic, racial, ethnic, religious, sexual-orientation, and age boundaries. The police, however, receive more calls in neighborhoods where individuals live in close quarters, and where neighbors contact the police for assistance.
|
Offender-Victim |
1998 |
1999 |
|
(ex-) Partner |
46% |
52% |
|
(ex-) Spouse |
21% |
21% |
|
(foster or step) Parent/Child |
11% |
12% |
|
Sibling |
6% |
4% |
|
Roommate |
2% |
5% |
|
Other Relationship |
13% |
5% |
Back to the 1999 Annual Report Index
Page Created 04/24/00
Last Updated: 04/25/00 11:02:13