[IN] Warrior: "I don't want somebody else to go through what I went through"

...[Artist Jenna] Deichman hopes her story will encourage others to speak out instead of downplaying and internalizing their experiences...

IMPD OFFICER WAS ABLE TO 'WALK AWAY WITH ALL HIS GUNS' AFTER DOMESTIC ABUSE, WOMAN SAYS
Indianapolis Star
Ryan Martin and James Briggs
April 3, 2019
[Excerpts] The longtime girlfriend of an Indianapolis police officer says she suffered verbal and physical abuse for years. Now, Jenna Deichman wants to know why her call for help didn't lead to an arrest, even though a prosecutor says she believes Deichman. The escalating violent behavior alleged by Deichman, 26, began when officer Corey Holt punched her in the thigh... Deichman's fears, she said, reached a new high Jan. 19. She called 911 to report that Holt had lifted her up by the collar, knuckles pressing into her neck... She had returned to the home she co-owns with Holt to collect the rest of her belongings... With IMPD officers standing by, Deichman said, Holt packed as many as 20 guns into his car and drove away... Deichman lay awake in her hotel room that night, terrified... Deichman, whose father and grandfather were cops, said she is sharing her story after months of reflection and therapy because she wants to give a voice to women who feel powerless and depend on law enforcement officers such as her ex-boyfriend to respond with empathy when called. Deichman's desire to talk about her experience, plus documentation of the Jan. 19 incident, make her case a rare window into allegations of intimate partner violence committed by law enforcement officers. Domestic violence is under-reported. Research is sparse on how widespread it is among police officers and what consequences they face... It is unclear why IMPD officers did not arrest Holt. It's also unclear why they did not seize his weapons, which they have discretion to do under Indiana law and IMPD policy. IMPD Chief Bryan Roach, through a spokesman, declined an interview request... Laura Berry, executive director of the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, believes IMPD failed to follow its own policy by letting Holt walk away, a choice that can affect victims' willingness to report abuse... Detective John Green of IMPD's special investigations unit led the criminal investigation and submitted his findings to Janna Skelton, a deputy prosecutor at the Marion County prosecutor's office. Skelton did not file criminal charges against Holt... Green declined an interview request... It's unclear whether Green and Skelton investigated Holt's alleged behavior... An Ohio judge granted a temporary protective order against Holt. Now Deichman is seeking a permanent one, but Holt is fighting that in court... Deichman, meanwhile, worries that her protective order will not be granted because the deputy prosecutor in Indianapolis declined to pursue criminal charges... Deichman said her family and friends are supporting her as she starts over and prepares to attend graduate school [Full article here]

Video produced by Jenna Watson

IMPD OFFICER ACCUSED OF ABUSING AND INTIMIDATING HIS EX-GIRLFRIEND HAS BEEN FIRED
Indianapolis Star
Ryan Martin and James Briggs
April 26, 2019
[Excerpts] An Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer has been fired for failing to turn over a collection of firearms after being accused of domestic violence by his former girlfriend. A temporary protective order issued in his former girlfriend's home state required the officer, 26-year-old Corey Holt, to surrender his weapons. But when a supervisor served the order, Holt "acknowledged" only one shotgun... IMPD later confiscated another 12 guns after learning of their existence in an IndyStar investigation... On April 18, at the end of an internal affairs investigation, Roach said he fired Holt for lying to his supervisors and for violating the terms of the temporary protective order... The IndyStar investigation, published this month, described 10 years of alleged abuse by Holt. Jenna Deichman, his former girlfriend, said Holt used his police training and equipment to intimidate her, including times when he used a neck chop or pressed his knee into her chest — physical tactics he learned at the academy — or wielded his police Taser in their home to scare Deichman and her dog... Something happened between the two when Deichman returned Jan. 19 to collect her belongings. She called 911 to report that Holt had lifted her up by the collar, knuckles pressing into her neck. In court documents, Holt's attorney said the allegations of domestic abuse on Jan. 19 are untrue... IMPD policy urges officers to arrest the "predominant aggressor" on domestic battery calls, but officers did not arrest Holt that day... While sitting in her U-Haul outside of Holt's home, with officers in control of the crime scene, Deichman said she watched Holt carry a collection of guns from their home and place them in a vehicle before driving away... IndyStar asked Roach whether an internal investigation found that officers allowed Holt to move his weapons. "No information was brought to light through the course of the IA investigation that any officer witnessed Holt transport his personal firearms," Roach said in a statement. "Unless there are witnesses who have not yet come forward, the IA investigation found no evidence of investigating officers acting inappropriately"... [Full article here]
[police officer involved domestic violence oidv intimate partner violence ipv abuse law enforcement public safety indiana state politics female survivor speaks up fights back warrior teflon]