There were 29,117 domestic violence (DV) incidents reported to the police departments of Harris County during 1998 which equates to 3.32 incidents per hour. The City of Houston^* with an approximate population of 1.8 million reported a rate of 10 events per 1000 persons.  Harris County excluding the City of Houston (HCXCH) with a population of approximately 1.3 million people shows a slightly lower rate of 9 events per 1000 persons.  See Table A.
For Harris County, the number of incidents reported from 1991 to 1996 gradually increases peaking in 1996 and then decreases in 1997 and 1998.  Almost all the variables presented here follow the same pattern.  The City of Houston follows the same trend as Harris County.  Conversely, HCXCH shows a continuous increase in the number of reported DV incidents from 1991 to 1998, (See Chart 1 below).  The rate of reported DV also peaks in 1996 and then declines for HCXCH (See Chart 2).  Nonetheless, adjusted trend line for Harris County indicates an overall increase in reported incidents from 1991 to 1998. 
It would be worthwhile to observe trends for a longer period to determine the differential factors intervening in these two areas like Houston and HCXCH.  The possibility of additional factors could be used as variables when reporting domestic violence incidents. Some probable explanations for the different trends seen in reporting DV are different approaches taken by the police departments in handling the problem,