Nearly HALF of All Police Families Experience Domestic Violence

[PilotsError 2312]

Just a reminder.  Also, before people start vomiting about reform, you can't reform a criminal organization.  

 

Every time a football player or an NBA star makes headlines for domestic abuse, the country goes up in arms as news outlets talk about domestic violence among these industries. Because of this phenomenon, 69 percent of Americans think that there is widespread domestic violence in the NFL.

But the reality is that domestic violence among NFL players is well below the national average, coming in at just five percent. On the contrary, however, every time a police officer—someone who has sworn an oath to uphold the constitution and the law—beats their significant other, it barely registers as a blip in the media. This is in spite of some incredibly disturbing numbers when it comes to domestic violence among police.

The average rate of families who experience domestic violence in the country is around 10 percent. When we look at police officers families, however, that number quadruples. As the National Center for Women and Policing points out, two studies have found that at least 40% of police officer families experience domestic violence.

The most recent data on the matter shows that Officer-Involved Domestic Violence or OIDV, is a major problem.

Individuals who are the victims of domestic violence at the hands of police officer-batterers are often in a unique and particularly vulnerable situation. Unlike most victims of domestic violence, where the success of protective efforts depends on the cooperation of law enforcement, those subject to officer-involved domestic violence (OIDV) may, for a variety of reasons, be unable to secure the assistance they seek. This is particularly troublesome in light of increased rates of domestic violence in police officer families.

Even more startling than the fact that 40% of police officer families experiencing domestic violence is the fact that this number is likely far higher as it is estimated that much of it goes unreported.

According to Leigh Goodmark, author of Hands Up at Home: Militarized Masculinity and Police Officers Who Commit Intimate Partner, 

The data on intimate partner abuse by police officers are both dated and potentially flawed, but in ways that make it more likely that abuse is being under—rather than over—reported. Most of the studies rely on self-reporting by police officers to establish prevalence of abuse. Self-reporting is a notoriously unreliable measure; as one study noted, ‘The issue of the reliability of self-reports data is problematic when considering any socially undesirable behavior.’

The problem of police violence often times comes out in full display in the form of violent murder suicides. In December, the nation was shocked to hear about the tragedy that unfolded in Plant City, Florida in which a Hillsborough County sheriff’s deputy killed his wife, daughter and granddaughter, then confessed to their murders over his agency radio before killing himself.

Terry L. Strawn, 58, a Sheriff’s Office veteran who was once named Officer of the Year was the perpetrator. It is unclear how much abuse his family suffered before he made the ultimate decision to murder them.

In less serious cases, police have been seen beating their wives or girlfriends—in public, while in uniform.

As TFTP reported last year, officer Ian Ray and his girlfriend attended McGavock Elementary School for a child’s graduation when the two got into a verbal argument during the ceremony.

Ray was in uniform at the time and multiple witnesses reported seeing a police officer grab his girlfriend around the neck or hair and brutalize her. During the altercation, witnesses called police who showed up and then arrested the officer.

In that case, the officer was arrested. Sadly, however, many of these abusive cops are protected by their own departments and when an abused spouse or girlfriend attempts to get help, they are ignored and the abuser protected.

As TFTP has previously noted, a report by a government-appointed watchdog group shows that most of the time, the abusive officers commit these crimes with seeming impunity.

A study conducted by the Domestic Violence Task Force called Domestic Violence in the Los Angeles Police Department: How Well Does the Los Angeles Police Department Police Its Own? revealed that performance evaluations of cops with a history of domestic violence are largely unaffected. The study of the LAPD examined 91 cases in which an allegation of domestic violence was sustained against an officer.

Over three-fourths of the time, this sustained allegation was not mentioned in the officer’s performance evaluation.

Twenty-six of these officers (29%) were promoted, including six who were promoted within two years of the incident.

The report concluded that “employees with sustained allegations were neither barred from moving to desired positions nor transferred out of assignments that were inconsistent with the sustained allegation.”

Sadly, it is estimated that many of the abused women never come forward as they know the likely result — which is getting shamed by the department for reporting it and potentially more abuse.

Diane Wetendorf, a specialist on police abuse, points out the most common fears when reporting police domestic abuse in her handbook:

If your abuser is an officer of the law, you may be afraid to:

Call the police — He is the police.

Go to a shelter — He knows where the shelters are located.

Have him arrested — Responding officers may invoke the code of silence.

Take him to court — It’s your word against that of an officer, and he knows the system.

Drop the charges — You could lose any future credibility and protection.

Seek a conviction — He will probably lose his job and retaliate against you.

These fears can make someone feel incredibly trapped and feel like there is no way out.

If you or someone you know is a victim of this type of abuse we encourage you to no longer remain silent. As long as people go unpunished for their abuse, they will continue to dole it out.

 

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https://thefreethoughtproject.com/multiple-studies-show-nearly-half-of-all-police-families-experience-domestic-violence/?fbclid=IwAR13rANP7d1eTEct2iHWVETbFH3Hhdjtd1L9Dy8w2D0S4Pn4MjIGcj-3rKU

 

[immortal13 4059]

Shocking

[Digdogger 1344]

They’re just trying to get home to their families because their family needs to get kicked

[Post Oak 20254]

I had an APD officer tell me one time his number one priority at work is to get home safe.

 

 

[FORTY NINE TO ZERO 2652]

Heros. 

[RPM 26328]

Why don't these women just back the blue?

[Gil Bang 25984]

Just read about a San Diego deputy getting arrested for spousal abuse, so this hits close to home

[horn4life 3775]

I think that the low education levels of the members of law enforcement nationwide is one of the main reason we have so many "bad" cops.  The number of "bad" cops goes up nearly exponentially the smaller the town or municipality. This is not to say there are not a TON of good, solid police officers out there, but even those officers often get sucked into the tribal us vs them mentality that allows protection of bad cops by their breathren.  I personally think that ALL police officers should be college educated.  Simply because higher education tends to braoden a person's thinking and understanding of those who are different from themselves. Unfortunately there is a sizeable portion of the police forces in our country that have people that simply were unable to command respect prior to getting a badge and a gun. To me these are the most dangerous and most likely to abuse their powers on the street, and most likely to use physical force at home to enforce their demanded "respect."

I will also say that I think that an officer that might not have high self-esteem coming out of high school and then the military would greatly benefit from college personally.  I would be all for having poliice forces pay for educating police officers.  Many in fact do have generous programs for education, but I believe we would have a much higher quality police force with a mjajority of college grads in service.  Right now being a police officer is one of the best jobs available for a high school grad.  Not many other places can a non-college grad knock down similar cash. 

[Js1 85449]

29 minutes ago, RPM said:

Why don't these women just back the blue?

Back the blue or you'll end up black and blue? 

Edited February 11, 2019 by Js1

[Nivek 16949]

I know a kid orphaned by his cop father. He also murdered his partner, his partner’s wife, and the kid escaped with the help of a grandma.

[Texas_Rocks 346]

Wives are definitely going to be a lot less likely to respect a husband’s BS cop authority being brought into the home. A lot of cop husbands are of course going to resent that as they attempt to power trip their way through life.

[Guest]

Interesting that the article cites ‘multiple studies’ and then uses statistics from a whopping two.  The people with whom they have the discussions seem very objective too.  What’s the name of that organization, Study To Find Out IF Shitbag Pigs Are Abusive?

 

I am not disputing a higher domestic violence rates, but 4x the general public seems a bit steep.  The article hardly seems unbiased.

If someone is guilty of domestic violence they need to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, IDGAF what their occupation might be.

Edited February 12, 2019 by slorch

[DigglerontheHoof 21207]

This is not surprising.  Cops are mostly cowards.  Cowards get off on hitting women.  Cowards also cover for their cowardly comrades. 

['stache 21825]

I think that the low education levels of the members of law enforcement nationwide is one of the main reason we have so many "bad" cops.  The number of "bad" cops goes up nearly exponentially the smaller the town or municipality. This is not to say there are not a TON of good, solid police officers out there, but even those officers often get sucked into the tribal us vs them mentality that allows protection of bad cops by their breathren.  I personally think that ALL police officers should be college educated.  Simply because higher education tends to braoden a person's thinking and understanding of those who are different from themselves. Unfortunately there is a sizeable portion of the police forces in our country that have people that simply were unable to command respect prior to getting a badge and a gun. To me these are the most dangerous and most likely to abuse their powers on the street, and most likely to use physical force at home to enforce their demanded "respect."
I will also say that I think that an officer that might not have high self-esteem coming out of high school and then the military would greatly benefit from college personally.  I would be all for having poliice forces pay for educating police officers.  Many in fact do have generous programs for education, but I believe we would have a much higher quality police force with a mjajority of college grads in service.  Right now being a police officer is one of the best jobs available for a high school grad.  Not many other places can a non-college grad knock down similar cash. 

Tulsa is one of the few police departments to require a college degree. I support it for some of the reasons you mention. But it has also led to a lack of diversity because of the broader problem of the education gap between whites and minorities. Ultimately I feel that cops should be paid a lot more to account for the risks they take on, but it should come with the overall idea that they accept that risk for the big pay and give every benefit of the doubt before pulling their trigger, with harsh punishments for shooting unarmed people without good cause.

[tucker 238]

The other half know not to report it because another cop will just show up?

[Grade of D as in David 13253]

On 2/11/2019 at 2:40 PM, RPM said:

Why don't these women just back the blue?

More like black and blue

Edited February 12, 2019 by Grade of D as in David
Js1 beat me to it

[Johnny Sack 8397]

8 hours ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

This is not surprising.  Cops are mostly cowards.  Cowards get off on hitting women.  Cowards also cover for their cowardly comrades. 

There are definitely way too many coward in that line of work.  

[Your Mom 4828]

It’s extremely hard to get hired at APD without a bachelor degree and they prefer something academic over criminal justice. Just saying. That doesn’t mean they don’t still end up being a bunch of shitbags though.