Abuse of Power
THE clearinghouse on police-perpetrated domestic violence
...providing a needed resource for victims and advocates
Article Section
- Abusive Officers
- Advocate Ofcr Dialogue
- Batterers & Custody [PDF]
- Crossing Threshold
- IACP Discussion [PDF]
- Effective Lawyering
- Female Officers
- Model Policy [PDF]
- Impact of PPDV
- Tacoma Lessons [PDF]
- PPDV overview
- Policy Research [PDF]
- Policy Review [PDF]
- Stacy Peterson [BWJP site]
- Advocate Handbook [BWJP site]
Abusive Police Officers: Working the System (Excerpt)
©2006 Diane Wetendorf All Rights Reserved.
No one knows the extent to which police officers abuse their wives or intimate partners. The International Association of Chiefs of Police states that the rate of officer-involved domestic violence “is estimated to be at least as common as that of the general population.” There has been little research on the prevalence of officer-involved domestic violence. In one study, 40% of police officers self-reported having been violent toward their spouse or children; in another, 28% indicated that they had behaved violently toward their spouse.
This essay examines how police authority, police training and police culture can be used by abusive officers in intimate relationships to bolster their power and control over their victims. Information was gathered from an extensive review of literature on police culture and police administration. Information about tactics used by officers was based on reports by victims, victims' family members and advocates.
In addition to employing the same tactics that civilian abusers use, officers who batter typically use tactics of control that they have acquired through their professional training and experience including exaggerated forms of verbal, psychological, and physical abuse. My intent is to demonstrate how the police culture's values and perspective can translate to exerting control and dominance within a personal relationship and how it can also provide rationalization for such abusive behavior.
This is not in any way to suggest that all police officers are batterers, or that the influence of the police culture will turn non-batterers into batterers. Rather it draws connections between police officers' professional training and worldview and the characteristics and worldview of civilians who batter. Their professional credibility and training uniquely position officers who batter to explain, defend, and summon institutional support and assistance from the very systems which victims are supposed to turn to for protection.
