[PA] "SUPERVISOR MUST SHOW WHEN COP FIGHTS KIN" (IACP blah blah blah)

SUPERVISOR MUST SHOW WHEN COP FIGHTS KIN
The Daily Item
By Diane Petryk
March 26, 2010
[Excerpts] Every time police are called to a domestic fight involving another police officer, a supervisor should also be called. That’s the policy of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the reason is simple. "It keeps everything clean and objective," said work place consultant Tim Dimoff, author of the book "Life Rage." Repeated calls to the same home involving a police officer, he said, should be a huge red flag for potential escalation. If a supervisor isn’t part of the response team, from the very first call, there’s a chance of missing the need for serious intervention. If only an officer is called to the home of a colleague, there’s the potential he’s going to cut his fellow policeman a little too much slack, Dimoff said. The entire history of domestic calls to the home of [Sunbury Police Officer] Michael Miller and Robin Prentice Miller in Sunbury has not been revealed, but state police have stated: "The couple had a history of domestic altercations"... Sunbury police Chief Steven Mazzeo said he counseled the Millers twice about their disputes, but never thought their troubles would rise to the level of murder-suicide... Supervisors are expected, according to the chiefs of police association, to watch for any pattern of abusive behavior that could indicate potential domestic violence... Wives of abusive police officers are often in difficult situation, according to the women’s justice advocacy organization Purple Berets. Their husbands always have a gun, the organization points out, have been taught to intimidate, know how to inflict pain without leaving marks and can credibly claim they "know how to get away with it." Domestic violence is two to four times more prevalent in police families than in the general population, the group says... [Full article here] 

IACP doesn't do enough:

Until the International Association of Chiefs of Police REQUIRES their own membership of law enforcement top cops to adopt the Association's famous model officer-involved domestic violence policy I don't care what they have to say. They could. They don't. 

More than "wives" are endangered:

"Wives" of abusive officers are in a difficult situation? Adult married women are not the only victims. Every department should HAVE and OPENLY POST their officer-involved domestic violence information on their agency's website, so that girlfriends, boyfriends - gay OR straight, teens, teachers, concerned friends and family members, as well as husbands of female officers can access the information freely. I am very uncomfortable with gender limited language AND with the assumption that the perp is always the officer, always male, or limits the victims to the primary couple when so many friends and other family members have also been terrorized murdered.

[police officer involved domestic violence oidv intimate partner violence (IPV) abuse law enforcement public safety fatality fatalities murder suicide pennsylvania policy genderism]