I’ve been meaning to blog about Countertop’s post from a week ago:
I work with a woman who was abused by her fiance. He happens to be a cop, working here in DC for a federal police force. She left him, and has a temporary restraining order against him (which was issued by a Prince Georges, Maryland county court).
But the anti-gun folks say only the police should be armed, because, in their minds I guess, they are above the same human nature the rest of us are subjected to. Consider this:
Two studies have found that at least 40% of police officer families experience domestic violence, (1, 2) in contrast to 10% of families in the general population.(3) A third study of older and more experienced officers found a rate of 24% (4), indicating that domestic violence is 2-4 times more common among police families than American families in general.
But they are also, you know, above the law when it comes to domestic violence issues:
Unfortunately, an early analysis of the effect of the Domestic Violence Gun Ban on police officers shows that law enforcement officers have been able to circumvent the ban and retain their weapons. A 1999 survey of the nation’s 100 largest police departments revealed that only six cities acted against officers because of the Domestic Violence Gun Ban and only eleven officers were affected. Part of the reason for the lack of enforcement is that police officers have their records expunged or plead to a charge other than domestic violence.
That being from the National Center For Women and Police. I’m principal, I’m against the Lautenberg restrictions, but I sure as shit think if they are on the book they should apply to the police equally. I don’t mean to malign all police officers, but it looks to me like this is a problem that people should be worried about. I hope that everything turns out OK with Countertop’s coworker.
It’s hard for me to accurately focus my thoughts on this issue. My dad was a cop, and I’m veteran of the US Aqua Cops…I mean Coast Guard.
I would really like to see the data that the NCWP used for their studies; while I understand that the average cop is usually a little more aggressive and controlling than Joe Citizen, I have a hard accepting that abuse is 2-4 times more common in police families.
Of course, that’s neither here nor there when it comes to actual point; of course the police should not be the only ones with guns. The duty of the citizen is to defend their person; the police cannot be relied upon to be there when you’re being mugged/having your house robbed.
I do enjoy your blog, I’m going to add you to my front page and hope you’ll do the same for me.
Sure… I would be happy to. And just to be clear, I am in no, way shape or form anti-law-enforcement. But there some things I see in policing now a days that worry me. The studies seem to have appeared in the National FOP Journal.
Believe me, it’s hard sometimes. I’m an ardent supporter of police (for obvious reasons); and yet I feel like there is a divide growing between the police and the civilians, creating an “us vs. them” mentality. That’s not good for the cops or the citizens.
hey, thanks.
I’ll have an update on this later – as right now (on top of doing my job and helping my wife out as we expect a baby any minute now) I am still trying to help her resolve her situation.