Police Homicides Are Related to DV Homicides

The end of 2016 brought tragedy to the Susquehanna Valley.  PA State Trooper Landon Weaver was shot and killed when responding to a PFA violation.  Shortly before that, two police officers were shot and one was killed responding to domestic disturbance in Pittsburgh.

Too many times, law enforcement deaths are related to responding to domestic violence calls.  In a study of U.S. law enforcement line of duty deaths by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, 20% of the 132 officers killed responding to dispatcher calls or investigating unusual activity were killed relating to domestic disturbance calls. 

We already know that domestic violence is potentially fatal.  Of all homicides with femalevictims, 45% were committed by intimate partners. 

At Transitions, we are trying to do what we can to prevent homicides related to domestic violence by implementing the Lethality AssessmentProgram in our area.  

But we, as a society, could be doing so much more.  We need to stand up to domestic violence before it gets to that point.  There has been a lot of discussion about whose lives matter.  Domestic violence homicides and police homicides are often linked.  There has been a lot of discussion about preventing police homicides.  I believe one of the things we as a society could do to accomplish this is to reduce the amount of domestic violence and therefore domestic violence homicides.  We have a responsibility to speak up when jokes are made about women knowing their place, about police being pigs.  

If victims of domestic violence heard that it was not okay to be put-down, called names, manipulated, would they leave more quickly?  I believe so, and I believe this would decrease the amount of calls to which police officers would need to respond, and decrease the amount of homicides, both of law enforcement and of domestic violence victims.