Deadly secrets: violence in the police family.

Early morning telephone calls rarely signal good news; this one was no exception. A fellow officer reluctantly disclosed that one of our officers had beaten his girlfriend badly the previous night. Although I sensed the hesitation in his voice as he briefed me on the incident, we both knew we could no longer avoid the inevitable: We would have to arrest the officer.

Arresting one of your own officers is a difficult task, especially when that officer is a friend. And, although I was saddened by the news, I was not surprised. After all, most everyone in the department knew the officer was having domestic problems. But as I discovered a few days later, the officer's friends also knew that his domestic disputes had turned violent.

The Family Enigma 

Through 20 years of police work, three separate law enforcement agencies, and my own failed marriage, I have come to know intimately the innumerable family problems police officers experience. In many ways, police families resemble other families. However, in addition to dealing with the same daily frustrations that confront all families, they must cope with all of the exceptional pressures that accompany police work. This extraordinary stress makes police officers more prone than average citizens to alcoholism, domestic violence, divorce, and suicide.(1)

Clashing Traits

The very nature of police work teaches officers to control their emotions. They discipline their minds to remain focused in dynamic situations, no matter how bizarre or terrifying. Above all, they must prevail in the face of adversity.

Officers learn to interrogate when suspicious, to intimidate or match aggression when challenged, and to dominate when threatened. Granted, these actions are necessary for survival and control. However, when combined with the unfavorable conditions of police work - undesirable shifts, rotating work schedules, days off spent in court, exposure to pain and suffering, and violent confrontations - even exceptional police officers can become very poor spouses, parents, and friends.(2)

Law Enforcement's Response

Sadly, though numerous case studies document the susceptibility of police families to domestic problems, police officers rarely receive advice on avoiding such pitfalls. For the most part, senior officers only admonish rookies to "leave the job at work."

If art imitates life, then the media's portrayal of many police officers as grumpy, quarrelsome, divorced alcoholics is right on target. Indeed, law enforcement seems to have institutionalized marital and family turmoil into the profession.(3)

Do Unto Others 

Traditionally, the police have chosen not to get involved in domestic disturbances in the general population. Unless a family fight turned violent and resulted in severe injuries, the police viewed it as a civil problem inappropriate for police attention. Often, the reluctance of law enforcement to get involved led to temporary, nonlegal remedies, designed to ease the tension between the victim and the abuser.

Responding officers might make one party leave the house for a cool-down period. Or, they might convince one partner to apologize and promise not to repeat the behavior. As a general rule, though, officers did not take anyone into custody.

Gradually, however, lawsuits and political activism brought about a change in law enforcement's attitude toward domestic violence. Research indicated that arresting batterers reduced the likelihood of repeat violence, compared with police mediation or similar counseling-oriented intervention techniques.(4) In the face of this emerging empirical evidence, laws dealing with family violence took an extreme turnabout.(5)

Most States enacted legislation mandating police action in cases of suspected family violence. Unfortunately, although officers increasingly became involved in private citizens' family disturbances, they were less diligent in policing their own.

Need for Specific Policy

While most law enforcement administrators claim to comply with domestic violence statutes when dealing with their own officers, they also admit to slippage.(6) Many agencies have no specific policy concerning the issue.

The absence of clear policy does not mean that police managers ignore domestic violence involving their officers. In fact, most agencies conduct both criminal and internal affairs investigations. To reduce possible allegations of a coverup, some agencies request outside assistance for such investigations. Still others require direct supervisory attention any time a law enforcement officer is implicated in a family disturbance.

The problem, then, is one of timing. Police departments properly handle domestic disputes when they become aware of them. Oftentimes, however, cases remain unreported, even though other officers may have direct knowledge of the incidents. Clearly, police administrators should focus on these cases, from both the standpoint of the officer committing the violence and those officers who know the facts but choose to remain silent.

Keeping It a Secret

A unique culture exists in law enforcement. The dangerous nature of the job, combined with the authority to use force, creates close bonds among officers.(7) They depend on one another for safety and support. As a result, they develop a code of silence that excludes outsiders. Unfortunately, honoring the code or choosing to mediate their peers' crises themselves only exacerbates the problem.

Further, little research exists in the area of police family violence, even though information does exist on police officers and alcohol abuse, divorce, and suicide. Certainly, all of these indicate serious domestic problems.

The lack of pertinent information on violence in police families merely illustrates officers' reluctance to speak up when confronted with a peer's personal problems. As do members of most groups, law enforcement officers understand that they take a risk when they report another officer's misconduct. Short of actually killing someone, officers may exercise one of three options in enforcing the code: Shunning violators, revealing their inadequacies, or withholding assistance in emergencies. Often, however, whistle-blowers' fear of reprisal serves as sufficient punishment. Overall, the evidence does not support most officers' feeling that they literally risk their lives when they turn in their peers.(8)

Breaking the Code

In a recent study, law enforcement officers attending a training and law enforcement inservice reported the prevalence of violence in their marital relationships. Approximately 40 percent of the officers surveyed reported at least one episode of physical aggression during a conflict with their spouse or companion in the previous year.(9) These results even may be conservative, given the tendency for individuals to underreport incidents considered socially undesirable.

Although patrol officers reported somewhat higher rates of aggression, the effects of rank were statistically insignificant. In short, police officers of all ranks may be susceptible to the risk of marital violence. Furthermore, officers who reported working excessively long hours and failing to take leave had higher rates of marital aggression, suggesting that increased job dedication may result in increased marital violence.(10)

Previous attempts by police to mediate family violence or to practice crisis intervention in their own families have proven unsuccessful. This means that police officers can no longer remain silent when they believe one of their own is in trouble; they must turn to others for help.

The Administrator's Role

In the case of the officer in my own department who had beaten his girlfriend, I questioned whether we, as an organization, had faltered in assisting the officer. Several resources were available for him: A chaplain, a police psychologist, an employee assistance program, and a peer counseling program. Still, early intervention did not occur. The officer's supervisor had spoken to him and directed him to seek professional counseling, but not until he nearly had reached his breaking point.

Yet, even when police supervisors suspect officers of abuse and intervene, officers often minimize the extent of their problem and resist recommendations for treatment. Indeed, voluntary treatment programs in anger control, stress management, or conflict containment techniques usually have poor attendance records. However, because the violence tends to repeat and escalate in severity over time in a substantial number of domestic abuse cases, managers should initiate mandatory treatment programs as soon as possible after they become aware of an episode of physical aggression, even if that occurs after the officer commits a criminal act.(11)

Early Detection

Early detection can prevent aggressive behavior in police families from escalating to criminal acts. Batterers can and do exhibit warning signs that may spill over into the workplace. Some symptoms of potential abuse include:

* Jealousy

* Controlling behavior

* Quick, romantic involvement

* Unrealistic expectations

* Isolation

* Blaming others for their feelings and/or problems

* Hypersensitivity 

* Cruelty to animals or children

* Jekyll and Hyde personality

* History of battering

* Threats of violence

* Breaking or striking objects

* Use of force during an argument.(12)

Individuals who physically or emotionally abuse their domestic partners may exhibit some of these behaviors. Three or more indicate a strong potential for physical violence. The last four behaviors almost always are seen only in batterers.

Police managers, supervisors, and coworkers should watch and listen for these indicators. Although they might not be readily observable at work, a spouse, a friend, or a neighbor may have seen or heard inappropriate behavior.

A Change in Culture

Even if managers initiate prevention and treatment programs, they may remain ineffectual if not supported by the general law enforcement populace. Peer pressure often compels group members to follow standards of conduct, especially in law enforcement.(13) Accordingly, before any meaningful intervention program can curb violence in police families, members of the law enforcement profession first must acknowledge the existence of the problem. Then, they must work together to assist coworkers through intervention. In short, they must not keep it a secret.

Police managers must establish, maintain, and enforce policies that define acceptable employee conduct and performance. Further, they must educate all employees about the nature of police violence, emphasizing detection and encouraging intervention. Finally, through their words and actions, law enforcement leaders must set an example for their employees to follow.

First-line supervisors represent just that - the first line of defense against an escalation of violence in the police family. Beyond coworkers, first-line supervisors have the most direct contact with employees and are responsible for monitoring their work performance and adherence to policy and procedure. Therefore, law enforcement supervisors must look for indicators of employee domestic violence and be prepared to guide employees toward an appropriate intervention program.

Violence in police families affects all ranks of law enforcement, both directly and indirectly. Thus, all members of an organization, not just administrators and supervisors, must pay close attention to the signs of domestic problems in all of their coworkers - in recruits, experienced officers, patrol officers, and chiefs alike. Furthermore, all members of the force should take appropriate action at the first indication of improper domestic behavior.

Conclusion

When law enforcement employees become involved in domestic violence, their agencies suffer the consequences, including decreased morale, inefficiency, and poor judgment among its personnel. Further, due to a perceived lack of credibility or their own biases, officers may suffer from diminished capacity to enforce domestic violence statutes in the community. Finally, agencies face increased risk of adverse publicity.(14)

The cost of failing to intervene in police family violence situations goes far beyond monetary losses. What is the value of a career or a family or the damage of emotional scars left by unchecked family violence?

The costs are too great to allow the enigma of violence in police families to continue. Administrators must create and maintain an organizational climate that supports and assists affected employees. Finally, all employees must recognize the seriousness of the problem. It cannot be kept secret any longer.

Endnotes

1 D. Jackson, "Police Brutality Often Begins at Home," Chicago Tribune, March 29, 1991.

2 R.N. Southworth, "Taking the Job Home," FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, November 1990, 20.

3 Ibid.

4 J.L. Edelson, "Interventions with Men Who Batter," Family Violence: Research and Public Policy Issues, ed. D.J. Besharov (Washington, DC: The AEI Press, 1990), 137.

5 Ibid. See also J. Fagan, "Criminal Justice Policy on Wife Assault," Family Violence: Research and Public Policy Issues, ed. D.J. Besharov (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1990), 54.

6 Informal survey conducted by the author at the FBI National Academy, Quantico, Virginia, April-June 1994.

7 J. Skolnick and J. Fyfe, Above the Law (New York: Free Press, 1993), 92.

8 Ibid, 110-112.

9 P. Neidig, H. Russell, and A. Seng, "Interspousal Aggression in Law Enforcement Families: A Preliminary Investigation," Police Studies, spring 1992, 30-38. In this study, volunteers completed a survey at an inservice training and law enforcement conference in a southwestern State. Respondents included 385 male officers, 40 female officers, and 115 female spouses. The researchers defined violent episodes as "minor" incidents, such as pushing or slapping the spouse or throwing objects, and "severe" violence, such as choking or beating the spouse or brandishing or using a weapon. Respondents reported the frequency of each incident on a scale that ranged from "never" to "more than 20 times a year."

10 Ibid.

11 P. Neidig, H. Russell, and A. Seng, "Observations and Recommendations Concerning the Prevention and Treatment of Interspousal Aggression in Law Enforcement Families," unpublished paper, June 1994.

12 Adapted from the Project for Victims of Family Violence, Inc., Fayetteville, Arkansas, by the Haven Women's Center of Stanislaus County, California.

13 Supra note 7, 110.

14 Supra note 9, 37.