While all seemingly obvious queries, the old police form - known as a 48 - didn't ask for specific documentation, and officers often wrote bare-bones narratives.
"They would say things like, 'Arrived on the scene. The guy was gone. The complainant stated that he beat her up,' " said Susan B. Sorenson, a University of Pennsylvania professor and director of the Evelyn Jacobs Ortner Center on Family Violence. "It wouldn't necessarily include all these contextual factors."
Collecting more detailed information is important for a number of reasons, including for prosecuting the offenders.
"In cases where we have to go to court without the victim, that's a tremendous help for us," said Deborah Harley, the chief of the Family Violence and Sexual Assault Unit in the District Attorney's Office.
Police leaders and advocates hope the new form will not only help the officers, but also draw out sometimes traumatized victims.
"The new form is fantastic," said Molly Callahan, director of the Legal Center for Women Against Abuse. "We also know victims can be very reluctant. . . . They're not always going to tell everything that has happened."
The form is part of a broad effort to change the way police investigate, report, and make referrals in domestic-abuse cases - all spurred by an unexpected surge in domestic homicides last year.
While homicides overall were in a two-year decline, domestic killings jumped from 21 in 2008 to 37 in 2009. There have been 21 domestic homicides so far this year.
Eventually, police leaders hope to enact a number of changes that will provide warning signs of future and escalating violence - and help get victims help.
As part of the pilot program in the East Division - which includes Northern Liberties, Kensington, Fishtown, Port Richmond, and parts of North Philadelphia - police have been sharing the information collected with advocacy groups such as Women Against Abuse.
