Two newspaper investigations in Canada have just come out asking a very similar question. Why are police failing to properly investigate crimes involving violence against women?
The Toronto Star asks in this investigation: In the majority of domestic violence cases in Ontario, there are telltale signs that a life is in danger -- so why are women still dying?
And The Globe and Mail in a separate investigation Friday revealed that Canadian police dismiss one in five sexual assault cases as unfounded -- a dramatically higher rate than for other crimes. Why?
Why so few spouse abuse arrests?
The FBI asked a similar question back in 2000 in its landmark report Domestic Violence by Police Officers. Why were police making so few arrests in cases involving spousal abuse?
The FBI's conclusion: Many responding officers botch cases because they themselves are abusive at home.
"If a police officer batters himself, his ability to conduct an objective investigation of the problem in other cases decreases," the report's introduction said.
Abusive cops may identify with other abusers: FBI
"Indeed, data show [that] where a police officer approves of domestic violence and resorts to physical abuse in his own marriage, he grows less likely to arrest others for the offense...
"Police officers in relationships characterized by severe conflict may view domestic violence as more normal and tend to identify with the male offender."
It's important to look deeper at the underlying causes of poor police responses. Those causes often include derogatory attitudes to women and impunity for officers who commit sexual misconduct and spousal abuse. Problems in one area often signal issues in connected areas.
Pattern of botched investigations and misconduct
For example, a U.S. justice department investigation of Baltimore city police in 2016 found a pattern of sexual misconduct, racial discrimination and poor investigations of sexual assault.
The department "makes minimal to no effort to locate, identify, interrogate or investigate [sexual assault] suspects," the justice department found.
"We found this to be true even in cases where the suspects had been identified or were easily identifiable on the basis of the victim's testimony."
Police blamed sexual assault survivors
Officers routinely blamed sexual assault survivors for getting raped and discouraged them from filing a complaint -- for example, asking questions such as "Why are you messing that guy's life up?"
One detective in the sexual offense unit reportedly complained: "In homicide, there are real victims; all our cases are bullshit."
An earlier U.S. justice department investigation in 2011 blasted the Puerto Rico Police Department for its "longstanding failure to effectively address domestic violence and rape in Puerto Rico."
Sexual assaults twice as common among cops: study
The same investigation also found rampant officer-involved domestic violence and amazingly lax discipline for abusive cops. Of 98 officers with two or more domestic violence arrests from 2007 to 2010, 84 were still on active police duty.
Disturbingly, in 2011, the U.S. National Police Misconduct Reporting Project found that U.S. police officers committed over two times more sexual assaults per capita than the general population.
Citing FBI data, the study also found that minors made up 52 percent of the alleged survivors of serious sexual misconduct by cops, such as sexual assault or battery. Sexual misconduct was the second most common form of wrongdoing reported, after excessive force.
Share the Police Wife blog with your friends.
Monday, February 6, 2017
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Get a Free Excerpt of My Book "Police Wife: The Secret Epidemic of Police Domestic Violence"
Did you know that only about one in five police departments worldwide typically terminate an officer even after two convictions or sustained incidents of domestic violence?
Read this and much more in a free extended excerpt from my award-winning book Police Wife: The Secret Epidemic of Police Domestic Violence.
The excerpt comes in downloadable PDF format and includes virtually all 80 pages of the appendices, offering advice and resources for survivors and family members and tips for police, governments, advocates, the public, journalists and academics.
Police numbers tied to unemployment
Also included is an appendix bringing together key statistics on police officer-involved domestic violence, including the results of my survey of over 170 police departments in 10 countries on their policies on this problem.
Also eye-opening are statistics about the role of police in our society, which I talk about a lot in the book because that's an important part of understanding why there's so much spousal abuse in police families.
For example, the number of police officers per capita in 22 developed countries has a 63-percent correlation with the youth unemployment rate. In other words, the more young people are unemployed, the more police there tend to be.
Racial discrimination
In the U.S., the number of officers in each state has a 55-percent correlation with the ratio of the unemployment rate for black males versus white Americans.
In other words, the more male African Americans are unemployed compared to white people -- a measure of racial economic discrimination -- the more police there tend to be.
The full book is available on Amazon here. Also check out my Police Wife Facebook page. And share the Police Wife blog with your friends.
Read this and much more in a free extended excerpt from my award-winning book Police Wife: The Secret Epidemic of Police Domestic Violence.
The excerpt comes in downloadable PDF format and includes virtually all 80 pages of the appendices, offering advice and resources for survivors and family members and tips for police, governments, advocates, the public, journalists and academics.
Police numbers tied to unemployment
Also included is an appendix bringing together key statistics on police officer-involved domestic violence, including the results of my survey of over 170 police departments in 10 countries on their policies on this problem.
Also eye-opening are statistics about the role of police in our society, which I talk about a lot in the book because that's an important part of understanding why there's so much spousal abuse in police families.
For example, the number of police officers per capita in 22 developed countries has a 63-percent correlation with the youth unemployment rate. In other words, the more young people are unemployed, the more police there tend to be.
Racial discrimination
In the U.S., the number of officers in each state has a 55-percent correlation with the ratio of the unemployment rate for black males versus white Americans.
In other words, the more male African Americans are unemployed compared to white people -- a measure of racial economic discrimination -- the more police there tend to be.
The full book is available on Amazon here. Also check out my Police Wife Facebook page. And share the Police Wife blog with your friends.
Thursday, January 19, 2017
"Police Wife: The Secret Epidemic of Police Domestic Violence," 2nd ed., Now Out on Amazon
Why do police officers abuse their spouses at a rate up to 15 times higher than in the general population? How do cops in some police departments get away with lighter discipline for assaulting their wife or girlfriend than for stealing or lying?
Find out in my updated and revised second edition of the award-winning book Police Wife: The Secret Epidemic of Police Domestic Violence, now available on Amazon.
The second edition includes a new memoir by journalist Amy Morrison about her marriage to a violent, controlling police officer -- and how she escaped, along with her two young daughters.
No abusive cops terminated: documents
It also includes pioneering research on the police response to domestic violence worldwide, including the first-ever international survey of dozens of agencies in 10 countries. One of the findings: Only one in five police departments worldwide typically terminates a cop even after two sustained incidents of domestic violence.
In Canada, I obtained police documents showing that not a single abusive cop had been terminated from their job at any of four of the country's largest police departments in recent years.
Also find new details about the connections between police domestic violence and other issues, such as police killings of African Americans, police sexual harassment of women cops and young female drivers and growing social inequality.
Tips for survivors and family
The new book also includes updated tips and resources for police spouses, family and friends and recommendations for police, governments, advocates, journalists, academics and the public.
Click here to find Police Wife on Amazon.com. Also available on Amazon.ca, Amazon UK, Amazon France and all the other Amazons.
Also follow my Police Wife Facebook page to get updates and learn more. And share the Police Wife blog with your friends.
Find out in my updated and revised second edition of the award-winning book Police Wife: The Secret Epidemic of Police Domestic Violence, now available on Amazon.
The second edition includes a new memoir by journalist Amy Morrison about her marriage to a violent, controlling police officer -- and how she escaped, along with her two young daughters.
No abusive cops terminated: documents
It also includes pioneering research on the police response to domestic violence worldwide, including the first-ever international survey of dozens of agencies in 10 countries. One of the findings: Only one in five police departments worldwide typically terminates a cop even after two sustained incidents of domestic violence.
In Canada, I obtained police documents showing that not a single abusive cop had been terminated from their job at any of four of the country's largest police departments in recent years.
Also find new details about the connections between police domestic violence and other issues, such as police killings of African Americans, police sexual harassment of women cops and young female drivers and growing social inequality.
Tips for survivors and family
The new book also includes updated tips and resources for police spouses, family and friends and recommendations for police, governments, advocates, journalists, academics and the public.
Click here to find Police Wife on Amazon.com. Also available on Amazon.ca, Amazon UK, Amazon France and all the other Amazons.
Also follow my Police Wife Facebook page to get updates and learn more. And share the Police Wife blog with your friends.
Sunday, December 18, 2016
International Awards for "Police Wife," 2nd Edition Out in Jan. 2017
My updated and revised second edition of the book Police Wife: The Secret Epidemic of Police Domestic Violence is coming out in early January 2017. The first edition picked up these international book awards:
- American Society of Journalists and Authors' Arlene Book Award
- Hollywood Book Festival non-fiction book award (runner-up)
- eLit Book Awards (silver)
- INDIEFAB Book of the Years Awards (bronze)
- Next Generation Indie Book Awards (finalist)
Police Wife takes you inside the tightly closed police world and one of its most explosive secrets: domestic violence in up to 40 percent of police homes, which departments mostly ignore or let slide.
The second edition includes the gripping new police wife memoir of journalist Amy Morrison, the first-ever international survey of police departments on the issue and eye-opening info from never-before-released police documents.
Please like, follow and share my new Police Wife page on Facebook.
"I loved your book"
Praise for Police Wife:
"Excellent job.... An important read."
- Det. Albert "Bud" Seng, PhD, Retired, Tucson Police Department, Arizona
"Amy's story mirrors mine in so many ways.... All of us associated with this profession must make it clear that domestic violence will not be tolerated in our ranks."
- Deputy Chief Dottie Davis, Retired, Fort Wayne Police Department, Indiana
"I loved your book.... This is a book that should be given to the wife or girlfriend of every single male police officer."
- Sergeant Amy Ramsay, PhD, Ontario, senior police policy analyst, former president, International Association of Women Police
"Thoroughly documented.... A must-read."
- Deborah Harrison, sociologist, University of New Brunswick
- "From the very first page, Police Wife sensitizes readers to the horrors of domestic violence, highlighting the extra challenges faced by victims of officer-batterers.... Police Wife takes a comprehensive look at a complex topic.... It's a substantial reference that includes endorsements from experts as well as practical resources for victims in the appendices."
- Kimberly Bourgeois, Montreal Review of Books (spring 2016)
UPDATE (Jan. 19, 2017): Police Wife is now available on Amazon. Share the Police Wife blog with your friends.
- American Society of Journalists and Authors' Arlene Book Award
- Hollywood Book Festival non-fiction book award (runner-up)
- eLit Book Awards (silver)
- INDIEFAB Book of the Years Awards (bronze)
- Next Generation Indie Book Awards (finalist)
"Excellent job.... An important read."
- Det. Albert "Bud" Seng, PhD, Retired, Tucson Police Department, Arizona
Police Wife takes you inside the tightly closed police world and one of its most explosive secrets: domestic violence in up to 40 percent of police homes, which departments mostly ignore or let slide.
The second edition includes the gripping new police wife memoir of journalist Amy Morrison, the first-ever international survey of police departments on the issue and eye-opening info from never-before-released police documents.
Please like, follow and share my new Police Wife page on Facebook.
"I loved your book"
Praise for Police Wife:
"Excellent job.... An important read."
- Det. Albert "Bud" Seng, PhD, Retired, Tucson Police Department, Arizona
"Amy's story mirrors mine in so many ways.... All of us associated with this profession must make it clear that domestic violence will not be tolerated in our ranks."
- Deputy Chief Dottie Davis, Retired, Fort Wayne Police Department, Indiana
"I loved your book.... This is a book that should be given to the wife or girlfriend of every single male police officer."
- Sergeant Amy Ramsay, PhD, Ontario, senior police policy analyst, former president, International Association of Women Police
"Thoroughly documented.... A must-read."
- Deborah Harrison, sociologist, University of New Brunswick
- "From the very first page, Police Wife sensitizes readers to the horrors of domestic violence, highlighting the extra challenges faced by victims of officer-batterers.... Police Wife takes a comprehensive look at a complex topic.... It's a substantial reference that includes endorsements from experts as well as practical resources for victims in the appendices."
- Kimberly Bourgeois, Montreal Review of Books (spring 2016)
UPDATE (Jan. 19, 2017): Police Wife is now available on Amazon. Share the Police Wife blog with your friends.
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