The Impact of Offenders Leaving the Scene on the Police Decision to Arrest in Cases of Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

In this article, the authors examine an issue that has not been studied in depth by prior research: the impact that fleeing the scene has on the likelihood of arrest in intimate partner violence cases. Using police data obtained from 25 police departments in four states, and controlling for a variety of incident, offender, victim, and jurisdictional characteristics, the authors find that an offender who flees the scene of the incident is more than 5 times less likely to be arrested than one who remains at the scene. The policy implications of the findings are discussed.