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Tacoma police chief shoots wife, kills himself
By LEWIS KAMB, PHUONG CAT LE, ANGELA GALLOWAY and RUTH TEICHROEB
April 26, 2003
Tacoma's police chief shot his wife and then himself in the parking lot of a strip mall Saturday afternoon while the couple's two young children were nearby...
U.S. Representative Jay Inslee (D-Washington) to the U.S. House of Representatives after passage of the federal legislation - The Crystal Judson Brame Domestic Violence Protocol Program.
Me,
& Why I'm doing this?
I go by Cloud Writer on the internet - live in Tacoma Washington. When Crystal, our police chief's wife was shot I took it personal. As the news articles kept pouring out after the murder-suicide it became evident that the problem was huge.
I don't just count them. I try to gather all there is to find. The data has been useful for several projects already, and eye-opening to many, but I have higher hopes for bigger changes.
It has been an HONOR to be contacted by so many impacted victims and their families as well. It's hard for folks in police families to get help for many reasons. There's more to this than blaming job stress for every murder. There's more at stake than careers. Zero tolerance isn't as simple as it sounds.
At a glance, it would be easy to mistake this for another anti-cop page, but it's not. I just want folks to be alright.
I could go on and on - about how officer-involved dv is different, how LIVING IN A TAKE-CHARGE /TACTICAL COMBAT /GUN CULTURE impacts the deadliness of cop-involved dv (especially mixed with alcohol, or divorce),
how the domestic violence support systems in most places pull away from these cases, why regular dv shelters are a dangerous prospect, about how thick the blue wall of silence is, and about what the long arm of the law means to someone trying to hide.
I could write for days about the enhanced fears, like terror-on-steroids.
My prayer is that all my bad news will lead to new hope, that law enforcement agencies will UTILIZE the grant funds set aside for this purpose, develop specific officer-involved dv policies for their departments, and that the brass will stop allowing in-house dv to be covered up.
Police Chief's wife kept divorce case quiet
The Olympian
June 9th, 2003
..."I was very afraid of his reaction in the event I did obtain a personal restraining order," Crystal Brame wrote in a March 25 declaration as part of the divorce. "In fact, I went to great lengths to try to not upset my husband initially because I was so afraid of his reaction."... In her divorce papers, Crystal Brame said David Brame had choked her and threatened to snap her neck. She said he had threatened to kill her, pointing his service revolver at her and saying, "Accidents happen."...
ARTICLE: "Abusive cops call the shots:
Battered wives, girlfriends often feel powerless"
...But what scared Cherry Gilbert most were the guns. One on the nightstand, another under the mattress. Several more stashed beneath the stairs. He was always armed... police who become batterers have the training and inside knowledge of the legal system to outmaneuver victims, experts say. The same gun and badge that enables cops to uphold the law can be used to control victims...
ARTICLE: "Abused officers can fall victim to system:
Police face backlash when they report domestic violence
...An officer victimized on the home front faces the unsettling prospect of reporting the violence to her [or his] own employer or a neighboring law enforcement agency. Officers who called 911 after being assaulted by another cop have been subjected to internal investigations because they "embarrassed" their department rather than seeking help discreetly... "Part of what's behind it is this code of silence," said Penny Harrington, a former Portland police chief. "You don't report misconduct on the part of another officer. If you do, the system will turn on you."... Police officials need to deal more sensitively with the dilemmas facing officers who are victims, said Colleen Wilson, chairwoman of the domestic violence committee of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs. "There can be a ripple effect on their careers that is negative"...
ARTICLE: "Clean up your act, police told:
'We have to get tough' with abusive cops"
...Before the shootings, victims' advocates said they rarely heard from the wives and girlfriends of abusive cops. Afterward, frightened women have flooded hot lines. Some have come forward to share their stories. Their message: Crystal Brame wasn't the only one...
FROM THE TACOMA POLICE DEPARTMENT"S INTERNAL INVESTIGATION REPORT INTO EVENTS LEADING UP TO POLICE CHIEF DAVID BRAME'S MURDER-SUICIDE RELEASED TO THE TAXPAYING PUBLIC:
DECEMBER 2005
THE GRAND OPENING OF THE CRYSTAL JUDSON FAMILY JUSTICE CENTER IN TACOMA
(THE CENTER IS A GENERAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ONE-STOP CENTER -- WITH POLICE ON SITE)
Crystal's papa, Lane Judson, cuts the ribbon
AUGUST 2006 UPDATE:
This letter, signed by Washington State U.S. Representatives, was sent individually to every United States Governor, every State Attorney General, and every State Insurance Commissioner encouraging ALL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES to have an officer-involved domestic violence policy.
[Click image to enlarge]
FEDERAL LEGISLATION
ENACTED DECEMBER 2005:
The Crystal Judson Brame Domestic Violence Protocol Program, -- now a provision of the Violence Against Women Act, provides up to $186 million in Department of Justice grants to law enforcement agencies to educate officers and supervisors, and provide trained advocates for victims. The provision, part of a larger program of training grants for law enforcement, is the first federal law addressing domestic violence within police ranks. Police organizations also backed the legislation, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, which has established a model domestic-violence policy for police agencies.
U.S. Representative Adam Smith on the Creation of the Crystal Judson Domestic Violence Protocol Program:
"...I am proud to announce that the DOJ bill includes an important provision that creates the Crystal Judson Domestic Violence Protocol Program. This program would provide funding to law enforcement agencies, nonprofit nongovernmental victim services providers and State, tribal, and local governments for the development and implementation of training for local victim domestic violence service providers. This program would also fund victim service personnel, to be known as ?Crystal Judson Victim Advocates,? which provide support services and advocacy for victims of domestic violence committed by law enforcement personnel..."
WA Congressman Jay Inslee on passage of the Crystal Judson Brame Domestic Violence Protocol Program:
..."The Judsons have done the impossible by affecting change at the federal and state level," referring to a law enacted which requires Washington state police agencies to adopt specific policies for dealing with domestic violence committed by employees. "Federal legislation such as this can only be viewed as a positive approach to encourage and motivate law enforcement agencies nationwide to address domestic violence," Lane Judson commented. "In the state of Washington, law enforcement agencies already have this type of policy implemented under State Bill 6161. I hope that every state nationwide utilizes this opportunity to become the best of the best"...
Senator Murray Hails Passage of the Crystal Judson Brame Domestic Violence Protocol Program, But Says Victims Need More Help Escaping Abusive Relationships:
"Mr. President, ...This legislation addresses the issue of police officer-involved domestic violence... the City of Tacoma, the Tacoma Police Department, and others formed a task force to examine officer-involved domestic violence. They created a new policy for the Tacoma Police Department, and they helped pass a state law (SB 6161) which requires that departments have policies on officer-involved abuse. This VAWA bill gives local communities new resources to deal with abuse that involves police officers... What happened in Tacoma is a tragedy that cannot be weighed. Out of that tragedy, Washington state changed it laws, and now the federal government is giving communities across the country new tools to address officer-involved abuse. So that new provision - along with the healthcare and housing measures - represent new progress in fighting domestic violence. But frankly, we've got a lot more work to do. I am deeply disappointment that the economic protections I have been fighting for since 1998 were not included in this reauthorization - despite some early progress. We Still Need to Address the Economic Barriers that Trap Victims - Mr. President, if we are going to break the cycle of violence, we need to address the economic barriers that trap victims in abusive relationships... This Congress has a lot of work to do to help victims, and I will come to this Senate floor as many times as it takes, until we finally give victims the help they need and deserve"...
(Above graphic & page background graphic are from John Hathaway's New Takhoman publication)