When the Batterer Is a Law Enforcement Officer: A Guide for Advocates Diane Wetendorf With Contributions from Jane M. Sadusky For the Battered Women’s Justice Project Criminal Justice Center February 2004 Acknowledgements Acknowledgements Mission The mission of the Battered Women’s Justice Project is to promote systemic change within community organizations and government agencies engaged in the civil and criminal justice response to domestic violence that creates true institutional accountability to the goal of ensuring safety for battered women and their families. To this end, BWJP undertakes projects on the local, state, national and international levels. About the Author Diane Wetendorf is a domestic violence advocate and counselor with twenty years experience in the field. In 1996, Diane created a groundbreaking program for victims of police-perpetrated domestic violence. She is now a consultant to the Battered Women’s Justice Project, providing consultation to victims as well as providing training and technical assistance to advocates and police departments on the issue of officer-involved domestic violence. Diane is the author of Police Domestic Violence: A Handbook for Victims, the “Police Power and Control Wheel,” and the Web site www.abuseofpower.info. She is the co-author of The Misuse of Police Powers in Officer-Involved Domestic Violence and Developing Policy on Officer-Involved Domestic Violence with Captain Dottie Davis. Thank You The Battered Women’s Justice Project and the author extend special thanks to Jane Sadusky, who made significant, insightful contributions to the content of the manual as she edited it. Jane is an independent consultant and writer whose work centers on institutional change and community response to domestic violence. Jane has directed statewide law enforcement education and training development. We also thank the members of the Advisory Group and others who assisted in the review of this manual, including: Howard Black, Dottie Davis, Loretta Frederick, Carolyn Hankett, Kimberly Lonsway, Nancy Marshall, Melanie Herren, Judy Munaker, Kim Riorden, Lore Roethke, Linda Rowlett, and Stephanie Bradley Wilson. This project was supported by Grant No. 1997-WT-VX-K006 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice When the Batterer Is a Law Enforcement Officer: A Guide for Advocates - 2 - Table of Contents Table of Contents When the Batterer Is a Law Enforcement Officer: A Guide for Advocates.............................. 1 Acknowledgements.............................................................................................................................. 2 Introduction.......................................................................................................................................... 4 How to Use This Manual.................................................................................................................... 7 When the Batterer Is an Officer: 10 Things Advocates Must Know........................................... 8 When the Batterer Is an Officer: 10 Things Advocates Should Discuss with the Victim........ 9 When the Victim Is an Officer: 10 Things Advocates Must Know...........................................10 Challenges to Advocacy and Collaboration ...................................................................................11 Misuse of Police Power.....................................................................................................................14 Supporting Victims to Tell Their Stories........................................................................................18 Going to the Department.................................................................................................................19 Shelter: An Uncertain Option..........................................................................................................28 Civil Orders of Protection................................................................................................................32 Calling 911: The Patrol Response....................................................................................................35 Prosecution .........................................................................................................................................41 Batterer Intervention.........................................................................................................................45 Suicide and Lethality..........................................................................................................................48 When the Victim Is an Officer ........................................................................................................51 Conclusion ..........................................................................................................................................56 Advocacy Tools..................................................................................................................................58 Appendix A: Police Officer Batterers - Tactics of Power and Control....................................59 Appendix B: An Annotated Safety Plan for Victims of Police Officer DV .............................60 Appendix C: Safety in the Electronic World .................................................................................65 Appendix D: Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights .............................................................66 Appendix E: Recommended Resources.........................................................................................67 Appendix F: Law Enforcement Response to Officer-Involved Domestic Violence ..............69 Appendix G: IACP Model Policy....................................................................................................73 Appendix H: IACP Discussion Paper ............................................................................................83 Appendix I: Law Enforcement Code of Ethics ............................................................................97 When the Batterer Is a Law Enforcement Officer: A Guide for Advocates - 3 - Introduction Introduction Since 1983, as an advocate for battered women, I have listened to women’s stories and tried to appreciate the uniqueness of every woman’s life. I have learned that to be of any support, we must be sensitive to each woman’s individual and cultural perspective on herself, the world, and her place in the world. As I listened to victims of police officer batterers, I recognized that they were describing their lives within a particular culture—the police culture. Women referred to the “police family” or “the brotherhood.” They explained that being the wife or girlfriend of a police officer means abiding by that culture’s rules: “What happens in the family stays in the family, and what happens in the police family stays in the police family.” Every victim told of being warned by the abuser that if she interfered with his career she would pay dearly. Victims knew that they put themselves and everything they had in danger by talking to anyone about what was happening to them. As their situations grew more intolerable, they were willing to take the risk of reaching out for help, but only to someone whom they felt would keep their confidence. The most important thing to police officer victims was the assurance that we were independent advocates who were not required to share information with the police. It was common for a woman to tell me that the abuser seemed to find out everything she did, everywhere she went, and every word she said on the telephone. Not surprisingly, she was reluctant to trust anyone, including a well- intentioned advocate. In my early experience working with victims of officer batterers, I would launch into my standard explanation of the Illinois Domestic Violence Act and its provisions for police response, shelter, and protection. One day a woman looked at me, dumbfounded, as if I hadn’t heard a word she’d said. She asked what it was that I didn’t understand about her husband being a police officer. She said, “He’d beat me within an inch of my life if he even suspected I was here talking to you. What do you think he’d do if I called the police, signed a complaint, or walked into a courtroom to get a protective order against him?” And she asked, who did I think was going to enforce the law against a police officer? After hearing variations of this response from other women, I began to realize how naïve I was. Each woman reacted with frustration that the information I was giving her about “options” and “safety planning” might work for other women, but would not work for her. Most options were based on the cooperation of the police and the courts, systems on which these women could not rely. Women repeatedly showed me how police abusers’ institutional power makes safety planning very complicated. Remedies such as safe houses, shelters, address confidentiality, or identity change are undermined by a police officer’s knowledge of investigative techniques and his access to all types of personal information through private and government databases searches. Victims had all been warned: “There is nowhere you can hide that I won’t be able to find you.” Women were very patient in educating me