Objective: Over the past decade several agencies in San Francisco (SF) County have independently monitored and reported on firearm-related violence. In 1999, the SF Firearm Injury Surveillance System was established in an effort to promote uniform collection and analysis of data for firearm-related injuries. This study describes findings that emerged from the linked dataset. Methods: During 1999, police, medical examiner, emergency department and trauma registry data were linked for all 180 firearm injury incidents involving 217 victims and 250 suspects. Results: Among the victims, 30% (n=64) suffered fatal and 70% (n=153) suffered non-fatal injuries. Of these 217 victims, 82% (n=178) were injured or killed as a result of interpersonal violence (IPV). A new finding was that 73% (n=129) of the victims of IPV had had previous contacts with the SF police (i.e., were charged and/or convicted of misdemeanors and/or felonies). Of these victims, 76% (n=98) had prior felony police contacts in SF and 59% of the surviving victims were found to have subsequently re-offended during years 1999-2000. A review of hospital records found that mention of prior felony offenses was made in less than 10% of the cases. Fewer than 3% of the victims were referred to intervention programs. Conclusion: Through data linkage it becomes apparent that there is a need for hospital-based referral of victims to recidivism reduction programs. This multi-agency surveillance system will serve as a platform to evaluate the impact of efforts to interrupt the cycle of recidivism.
Learning Objectives: To describe how a firearm injury surveillance system which links hospital and police data can improve the ability to identify indicators of assocations between police contact history and firearm injuries.
Keywords: Firearms, Injuries
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.