2951 Domestic Intervention Program

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2010

The 2951 Initiative, named after the Montgomery County Police radio code for a domestic dispute, data mines computer aided dispatch information. Through automation, the computer program looks for three or more domestic disputes at the same location. If a location is identified and three calls took place in the previous 90 days, the records and are provided once a week to the Family Crimes Division. The domestic violence victim/witness coordinator reviews each location to see if an officer made a physical arrest or commenced an investigation. If neither of those activities has occurred, the victim/witness coordinator contacts the complainants of those calls to offer supplemental and intervention services. It is the hope of the county to fill in the gaps that are created for volatile situations that occur frequently but do not rise to the level that would warrant an arrest. Since its implementation in May 2009, the program led the Police Department to identify 422 calls for service that under program guidelines mandated a follow up phone call from the victim/witness coordinator. As a result, the authorities initiated contact with 71 complainants. Of those, 55 accepted referrals to other county agencies or wrap-around services.