Time series analysis of the effect of a domestic violence directive on the number of arrests per day

Domestic violence is a serious and continuing problem in the United States today. The results of the domestic violence experiment conducted in Minneapolis suggested that arrests were an effective deterrent; however, other data have indicated that the attending officer's decision to arrest is dependent on several variables. In an attempt to implement the Minneapolis findings to combat repetitive and increasingly dangerous incidents of domestic violence, a southwestern city's police department issued a directive requiring police officers to arrest one or all of the participants involved in a domestic violence incidence. This study used time series analysis to investigate the effect of that directive on the number of arrests per day. The time series results showed a slight increase in the number of arrests per day and indicated that the directive may have contributed to consistency in the number of arrests. Apparently, determining how to increase arrests in domestic violence situations is a complex issue.