OIDV in October

Did you know that October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month?

Apparently these law enforcement officers didn’t…

California Highway Patrol officer Joseph Handwork has been placed on leave after arrested on felony charge of spousal assault and a misdemeanor charge of willful cruelty to a child. No other details were released.

Hillsborough County Florida Sheriff’s corporal Vivino Millan has been put on paid leave after charged with domestic violence for allegedly backhanding his girlfriend while driving.

Atlanta Georgia police officer Reginald Fisher, who was recently indicted for shooting an unarmed man in the face without justification, has been arrested again on domestic battery charges while out on bond.

Tippecanoe County Indiana deputy Travis Dowell was demoted from sergeant to patrol officer after receiving a diversionary sentence which will leave his record clean after taking a plea deal over felony battery charges for choking his teenage daughter.

Warsaw Indiana police officer Joseph Klaehn was fired after being arrested on felony domestic violence charges over allegations that he slapped his wife several times during an argument while their children were asleep in the home.

Marysville Kentucky police officer Bernard Evans has been placed on leave after a domestic violence protection order was filed against him by a woman with whom he had an unspecified relationship with. The woman claims she was left with 13 stitches in her forehead after he broke through her door and punched her.

Springfield Massachusetts police Lieutenant Robert Moynihan is under internal investigation after being arrested on allegations that he punched and choked his former girlfriend and threw her 13 year old daughter into a wall after flying into a rage about her using his cell phone.

Genesee County Michigan Sheriff’s sergeant Rick Bennet died in an accident after leading police on an 100mph+ chase in his pickup truck after police responded to reports that he was smashing windows at his ex-wife’s home.

Pamlico County North Carolina deputy Dwayne Cobb was suspended after being arrested for allegedly choking and threatening his girlfriend with his service weapon.

San Antonio Texas police officer Jason Rozacky resigned after his third arrest in 2 months over an apparent ongoing domestic violence & harassment issue with his ex-girlfriend after her apartment was broken into and she was assaulted.

Chattahoochee Florida police officer committed suicide while officers discovered the murdered body of his long-time mistress in a shallow grave in his back yard. He apparently murdered her in a fit of jealosy after discovering she went on a date with another man.

New York NY police transit officer was found guilty of 2nd degree murder for shooting his wife to death in 2007 in a case where he claimed he accidentally hit her while trying to shoot “knife-wielding thugs”.

San Juan Texas police officer Jose Hernandez fatally shot his wife in the chest before ending his own life, and apparently months of beatings that he is alleged to have subjected his wife to according to family members.

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So far, in the last 7 months, the NPMSRP has tracked 155 alleged and/or confirmed cases of officer-involved domestic violence, while the cases listed above occurred just this month. However, I normally don’t write about these cases as much as I could since the officer-involved domestic violence (OIDV) cause has a fairly solid community of activists, like the author of Behind the Blue Wall, who are linked together with OIDV groups across the nation.

Together, as part of the OIDV Network, They do a much better job of tracking these cases as well as advocating for OIDV issues and supporting OIDV victims than I ever could. If you want to learn more, or are a victim of officer-involved domestic violence, I highly recommend contacting them at www.policedomesticviolence.com.