THE PRESSURE COOKER that can be a police officer’s life and career can manifest itself in many ways, many of them unhealthy, unfortunately. And one of them can be in acting out in domestic violence situations.
As investigators continue to probe the circumstances that caused the pot to boil over, that caused veteran Neptune Police Sergeant Phillip Seidle to allegedly kill his ex-wife, Tamara Seidle in Asbury Park last week, the mother of his nine children, and what their history together may ultimately reveal, professionals working in the realm of domestic violence have seen not uncommon – though not necessarily as tragic – stories before.
“They see things most of us are never exposed to in terms of traumatic experience,” said Anna Diaz-White, executive director of 180 Turning Lives Around, which works with victims of domestic violence and their families. She was talking about police and military members in general, who can share common experiences that can manifest into this type of behavior. “And they don’t really have the opportunity, generally, to get the help,” due to social stigmas often found in those still predominately masculine professions.
“I think there is concern among officers that there is a fear it will get out and affect their careers and employment prospects.” And that can affect victims who are reluctant to seek help, she said.
Experts spoken to for this story acknowledged they couldn’t speak directly to the Seidle situation and were discussing this in general terms. “But being realistic, officers have a very difficult job and the trauma that they see over time impacts them. And if we’re not making it OK for them to talk about what they’re dealing with that can put them more at risk and using abuse and violence at home,” said Nicole Morella, director of public policy and communications for the New Jersey Coalition for Battered Women.
Diaz-White said, “I don’t believe there is any good research,” to indicate police officers actually commit domestic violence more than any other profession. “Probably not,” she suspected.
While, “I not painting a picture that all law enforcement have a propensity for this,” Morella said, There is a sense of control and authority that can come with those in law enforcement, generally speaking and “sometimes bring that home.”
Katharine Spillar, executive director of the Feminist Majority Foundation, a women’s advocacy organization, said the organization’s National Center for Women and Policing has done studies dating back to the 1990s. Its research has indicated that domestic violence has occurred in approximately 40 percent of law enforcement families as opposed to 10 percent in the general population.
“It’s a big problem,” Spillar maintained. How big is hard to ascertain because many police departments across the country do not have sufficient policies for addressing the situation, or ignore them, she alleged.
Compounding the situation, Morella explained is access to firearms. “Unfortunately, we know when there are firearms present in a home where there is domestic violence there is a five percent greater risk of that victim being killed by the perpetrator.”
Access to help for the victims and other family members is imperative in law enforcement and for all families, Diaz-White stressed. “Because not only do the fam- ilies pay the price,” she said, “but society pays the price as well.”
By John Burton
