1998 Annual Report
Domestic Crimes
Domestic crimes include all offenses committed against family members, spouses and ex-spouses, roommates, and romantic partners and ex-romantic partners. The Cambridge 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.
In 1998, the Cambridge Police Department took 984 reports for domestic incidents, compared to 911 in 1997. Underreporting is a serious problem when it comes to domestic crimes (domestic violence experts estimate that the police department receives a report for only 33 percent of domestic crimes), so the reliability of these figures is uncertain.
Categorical Breakdown of Domestic Incidents
| Most Serious Offense | Total Reports in 1997 |
Total Reports in 1998 |
% of this Crime that is Domestic (1998) |
| Simple Assault | 254 |
279 |
43% |
| Dispute/Disturbance with No Physical Abuse | 258 |
253 |
100% |
| Violation of a Restraining Order | 96 |
144 |
100% |
| Aggravated Assault | 99 |
89 |
24% |
| Threats to Commit a Crime | 66 |
72 |
18% |
| Burglary | 24 |
30 |
6% |
| Harassing or Obscene Telephone Calls | 23 |
30 |
11% |
| Malicious Destruction of Property | 37 |
28 |
3% |
| Larceny | 23 |
24 |
1% |
| Rape | 4 |
8 |
28% |
| Check Forgery | 1 |
6 |
3% |
| Auto Theft | 3 |
5 |
1% |
| Kidnapping | 3 |
4 |
67% |
| Robbery | 4 |
4 |
2% |
| Stalking | 1 |
3 |
17% |
| Annoying & Accosting | 0 |
1 |
4% |
| Arson | 0 |
1 |
9% |
| Disorderly Conduct | 3 |
1 |
2% |
| Extortion/Blackmail | 0 |
1 |
33% |
| Indecent Assault | 1 |
1 |
3% |
| Trespassing | 1 |
0 |
0% |
| Peeping & Spying | 1 |
0 |
0% |
| Total | 911 |
984 |
A large number of domestic calls to which officers respond involve no crime-simply a loud argument, classified as a "domestic disturbance" or "domestic dispute." In 1998, these calls made up 26% 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 most common domestic incident, accounting for 28% of the total for 1998, is "simple assault" (assault without a weapon and with no serious injury). Aggravated assaults make up another nine percent. Restraining order violations showed a heavy increase of 50% in 1998, making up 15% of domestic crimes.
Domestic incidents occurred most often between romantic partners or ex-romantic partners (48%), and between spouses or ex-spouses (19%). A woman is victimized in three quarters of all domestic crime incidents.
In 33% of the domestic crimes reported (excluding "disturbances"), Cambridge Police arrested someone at the scene. When aggravated or simple assault was the primary crime, police made on-scene arrests 54% of the time. (In the 46% of 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 do make on-scene arrests for all domestic crimes in which an offender can be located.)
| Offender-Victim Relationship | 1998 |
% of Total |
| (Ex-) Partner | 463 |
49% |
| (Ex-) Spouse | 191 |
20% |
| Parent/Child | 110 |
12% |
| Sibling | 59 |
6% |
| Roommate | 32 |
3% |
| Other Relationship | 98 |
10% |
While the police are often first to be called for assistance in many crimes, in domestic violence this is not always the case. Victims of abuse often seek assistance from a local battered women's shelter, a court, a hospital, or a friend before calling the police. Through the initiative of making Cambridge a "Domestic Violence Free Zone," advocates of battered women and the police are increasing the awareness and education of domestic violence in our community. Domestic violence crosses all socio-economic, racial, ethnic, religious, sexual-orientation, and age boundaries. What Crime Analysis has identified, however, is that we respond to more calls in neighborhoods where individuals live in close quarters, and where neighbors contact the police for assistance. This community responsibility is what not only the "Domestic Violence Free Zone" but also Community Policing strives to attain: when we as a community are concerned about our neighbors' safety as well as our own, we will have a safer community.