Police Officer Perceptions of Intimate Partner Violence: An Analysis of Observational Data

This article explores police officer perceptions of intimate partner violence (IPV) using observational data from police ride-alongs. We performed a qualitative analysis of narrative data from the Project on Policing Neighborhoods (POPN) to examine officers’ views of IPV as well as whether policing philosophy is related to officers’ attitudes toward IPV. Results indicate that POPN officers expressed problematic views of IPV (including simplification of IPV, victim blaming, patriarchal attitudes toward women, and presumption of victim noncooperation) as well as progressive views of IPV (including recognition of the complexity of IPV, awareness of barriers to leaving, and consideration of IPV as serious and worthy of police intervention). Additionally, our analysis offers tentative support for a relationship between policing philosophy and officers’ attitudes toward IPV. While this study is largely exploratory, we address the implications of our findings both for police practice and training and for future research.