Officer involved domestic violence
| DOI | 10.1177/1461355718774579 |
| Author | Brenda L Russell,Nicholas Pappas |
| Published date | 01 June 2018 |
| Date | 01 June 2018 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Officer involved domestic violence:
A future of uniform response
and transparency
Brenda L Russell
The Pennsylvania State University, Berks, PA, USA
Nicholas Pappas
The Pennsylvania State University, Berks, PA, USA
Abstract
Very little is known about officer-involved domestic violence (OIDV). Although the International Association for Chiefs of
Police has developed model policies about OIDV, the extent to which agencies adopted these policies across the United
States remains unclear. Similarly, research on and attention to OIDV have diminished substantially since the 1990s. Officer
training on OIDV is also rare, but pilot studies examining the use of new curriculum show promise. Yet, there is so much
more to be done. This article reviews research and policy on OIDV and seeks to provide motivation for uniformity of
policy implementation and officer response to OIDV, calling for transparency via research and reporting.
Keywords
Officer-involved domestic violence, police response, OIDV, model policy, police training
Submitted 13 Oct 2017, Revise received 21 Feb 2018, accepted 06 Mar 2018
Domestic violence is a serious social issue recognized by
the World Health Organization (2013) as a “global health
problem of epidemic proportions”. Over the years, wide-
spread policy changes have improved victim and officer
safety by means of greater victim advocacy and enhanced
police response (Oehme et al., 2016). Such policy changes
prove applicable, as domestic violence-related calls to law
enforcement remain the largest category of calls received
by police (Friday et al., 2009; Hendricks, 1991). Domestic
violence affects people of all ethnic, socio-economic, and
educational backgrounds, including law enforcement pro-
fessionals. If police experience domestic v iolence at the
same rate as the general public, studies estimate that
60,000 to 180,000 law enforcement families would be
affected by domestic violence annually (Waters and
Ussery, 2007). Experts (Waters and Ussery, 2007; Mark
Wynn, personal communication, 2018) consider this esti-
mate very conservative, particularly because victims of
officer-involved domestic violence (O IDV) are reluctant
to report abuse. Victims of law enforcement officers are
particularly vulnerable because their abuser has knowledge
of local shelter locations, can navigate the criminal justice
system and has been professionally trained in the use of
firearms. Although victims may be reluctant to report for
those reasons, many may also fear that their accusations
will not be taken seriously by officers or prosecutors and
realize reporting could jeopardize their partner’s career and
livelihood. With the exception of testimonials, very little
empirical data supports these assumptions. This article pro-
vides a short literature review on OIDV, examines model
policy and addresses some of the barriers toward uniform
policy implementation with hopes to reignite discussion in
ways that can increase knowledge, uniformity and
transparency.
Corresponding author:
Brenda L Russell, Applied Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University,
Berks, PO Box 7009, Tulpehocken Road, Reading, Berks, PA 19610, USA.
Email: Blr15@psu.edu
International Journalof
Police Science & Management
2018, Vol. 20(2) 134–142
ªThe Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/1461355718774579
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