Officer Firearms Assaults at Domestic Violence Calls: A Descriptive Analysis

Domestic violence calls pose great dangers for the safety of police officers in the US as thousands of police officers are assaulted annually while handling domestic violence and domestic disturbance calls. Each year many officers are injured or killed in these assaults, the majority of fatal assaults involving firearms. The present study is a descriptive analysis of 143 incidents of a firearm assault against 225 victim police officers who were handling domestic calls at the time of their victimisation. The characteristics of these cases are described at the incident, assailant, and officer levels. Comparisons are made with the characteristics of fatal police officer assaults in the US in general, and policy recommendations are offered.

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