University of Pennsylvania Releases Report on Domestic Violence in the City of Philadelphia

The Evelyn Jacobs Ortner Center on Family Violence at the University of Pennsylvania has produced a report on domestic violence in the city of Philadelphia. Data in the report shows that the number of domestic violence related calls to 9-1-1 decreased from 157,176 in 2009 to 145,904 in 2011. During the same period, the number of arrests for domestic violence increased from 4,927 to 6,256.

As a result of this data, Susan B. Sorenson, director of the Ortner Center at Penn, stated, “The agency doing the most proactive work in terms of the practices, procedures, and collaboration with other agencies may well be the Philadelphia Police Department.” The Ortner Center worked with the police department to develop a new evidence collection form that is used by officers when they make domestic violence calls.

The report includes analysis of domestic violence in the city by 20 different organizations.