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Police departments are falling short on a number of fronts in the way they handle domestic violence allegations against officers. We are NOT against law enforcement at all. Many of our victims are law enforcement officers or spouses with family members who are in law enforcement. The departments are: Creating a double standard by not immediately arresting officers accused of domestic violence. Ordinary citizens facing such allegations are routinely jailed.
Putting victims at greater risk by not taking away the officers' guns. During the investigation, officers suspected of abuse should be taken off patrol and not allowed to carry weapons, according to model policies drafted by national experts.
Failing to conduct thorough internal investigations of the incidents -- or, in some cases, not bothering with any review. That's how officers escape disciplinary action, experts say.
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Police Family Violence Fact Sheet
Taken from the National Center for Women and PolicingTwo studies have found that at least 40% of police officer families experience domestic violence, in contrast to 10% of families in the general population. A third study of older and more experienced officers found a rate of 24%, indicating that domestic violence is 2-4 times more common among police families than American families in general. A police department that has domestic violence offenders among its ranks will not effectively serve and protect victims in the community. Moreover, when officers know of domestic violence committed by their colleagues and seek to protect them by covering it up, they expose the department to civil liability.Unique Vulnerability
Domestic violence is always a terrible crime, but victims of a police officer are particularly vulnerable because the officer who is abusing them: has a gun,
knows the location of battered women's shelters, and
knows how to manipulate the system to avoid penalty and/or shift blame to the victim.Victims often fear calling the police, because they know the case will be handled by officers who are colleagues and/or friends of their abuser. Victims of police family violence typically fear that the responding officers will side with their abuser and fail to properly investigate or document the crime.Failure of Departmental Policies
These suspicions are well founded, as most departments across the country typically handle cases of police family violence informally, often without an official report, investigation, or even check of the victim's safety. This "informal" method is often in direct contradiction to legislative mandates and departmental policies regarding the appropriate response to domestic violence crimes. Moreover, a 1994 nationwide survey of 123 police departments documented that almost half (45%) had no specific policy for dealing with officer-involved domestic violence. In that same study: The most common discipline imposed for a sustained allegation of domestic violence was counseling.
Only 19% of the departments indicated that officers would be terminated after a second sustained allegation of domestic violence.
A recent study of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department found inconsistent policies and practices for officers accused of domestic violence, regarding arrests, seizure of firearms, and Employee Assistance treatment. There is no reason to believe that the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department is unique in this; rather, this inconsistency is typical for police agencies responding to domestic violence committed by its own members.Although the International Association of Chiefs of Police have prepared a model policy on police officer-involved domestic violence, there is no evidence that police departments across the country are doing anything other than simply including the policy in their manuals.Violent Police Officers Receive "Exceedingly Light Discipline"
The reality is that even officers who are found guilty of domestic violence are unlikely to be fired, arrested, or referred for prosecution, raising concern that those who are tasked with enforcing the law cannot effectively police themselves. For example: In 1998-1999, 23 domestic violence complaints were filed against Boston police employees, but none resulted in criminal prosecution.
The San Diego City Attorney typically prosecutes 92% of the domestic violence cases that are referred, but only 42% of the cases involving a police officer as the perpetrator are prosecuted.
Between 1990 and 1997, the Los Angles Police Department investigated 227 cases of alleged domestic violence by officers, of which 91 were sustained. Of these 91 allegations that were sustained by the department, only 4 resulted in a criminal conviction. That means that the LAPD itself determined in 91 cases that an officer had committed domestic violence, but only 4 were convicted on a criminal charge. Moreover, of these 4 officers who were convicted on a criminal charge of domestic violence, one was suspended for only 15 days and another had his conviction expunged.In fact, an in-depth investigation of the Los Angeles Police Department conducted by the Office of the Inspector General concluded that the discipline imposed on officers found guilty of domestic violence "was exceedingly light when the facts of each incident were examined" (p. i).Performance Evaluations Not Affected; Violent Officers Often Promoted
The study of the Los Angeles Police Department further examined the 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" (p. iii).12Rarely determining there was wrongdoing in domestic violence complaints against officers, and meting out minimal discipline in the vast majority of those cases.
Lacking specific policies on how to deal with officers accused of abuse.