Domestic violence is any act of violence against one family member by another.   Family can include current and former spouses, parents who have children in common, adults who live in the same household, as well as parents and their children.  Domestic violence offenses may or may not result in the arrest of a perpetrator.  The rate is the number of offenses per 1,000 people in the county.

The rate of offenses in Pierce County had gone down since 1997 from 11.77 per 1,000 people (7,331 offenses) to a ten-year low of 8.79 (6,342 offenses) in 2003, but has since gradually reached 10.7 offences per 1,000 people last year in 2008 (7,340 offenses).  Since 1997, Pierce County has had a higher rate of domestic violence offenses than both the state as a whole and counties like ours, which includes Spokane County and Snohomish County.