Social Policy Trends: Police and Justice Costs of Domestic Violence Perpetration

This paper focuses on a side of domestic violence costs that is discussed less often: the burden on police and the justice system. Using Calgary data, the authors examine 934 men who were charged with a domestic-violence-related offence in 2019 and show that most had repeated prior contact with police long before the charge that brought them into the sample. Those interactions, plus the crimes ultimately charged, generated substantial policing and court-system costs. Even using a narrow costing approach, the paper estimates that the direct police, response, and court costs tied to the most serious offences exceeded $13.5 million, while a broader accounting pushes the total above $29.5 million.

The paper’s main policy claim is that these costs are not random or unavoidable. Because many offenders had repeated earlier contact with police, the authors argue that domestic violence often follows observable trajectories that create opportunities for earlier intervention. Prevention is presented not only as a moral and safety imperative but as a fiscally defensible strategy, with the cited research suggesting that earlier intervention can cut reoffending and subsequent victimization substantially. The result is a case for shifting more attention from crisis response toward prevention and interruption.