The relation between the individual assessment of victims by Dutch police and repeat victimization

Abstract

ABSTRACT Dutch police officers perform an individual assessment for all victims they come into contact with. A victim’s vulnerability is assessed, based on six indicators and the employment of protection measures is decided upon. This study explored to what extent the indicators and protection measures are associated with repeat victimization. Analyses were based on Dutch police records from 146,585 victims and contained information from the individual assessment procedure and information repeat victimization within 1 year. Logistic regression analyses revealed that indicators and protection measures were significantly related to repeat victimization. The individual assessment may, therefore, contribute to the identification of victims vulnerable for repeat victimization as indicators referring to experiencing harm or a high-risk crime were related to repeat victimization. Also, the individual assessment might contribute to the protection of high-risk victims, as protection measures were found to mitigate the relation between some indicators and repeat victimization.