Police officers three times more likely to commit domestic violence than active NFL players

THU SEP 10, 2015 AT 11:23 AM PDT
byShaun King

Police departments are actually amazing at public relations. Each department often has its own communications director, some have full PR departments, and high-ranking officers interact with the local media more than any other profession in our country. This may explain how police officers are held up as the ethical and moral heroes of our country in spite of the reality that they have a rate of domestic violence 300 percent higher than NFL athletes.

A full 69 percent of Americans believe that the NFL has a widespread domestic violence problem, and 47 percent of Americans believe that NFL athletes should be permanently banned from the league for domestic violence.

The truth is, though, that NFL athletes actually have a domestic violence rate that is 45 percent lower than the national average. The athletes are just so popular and widely covered that it has given the nation a bit of a false impression.

Domestic violence is a problem in general, and NFL athletes are certainly part of that problem.

What isn't being told is that police officers have a higher domestic violence rate than any known profession in the country.

Keep reading for the gory details.

In families of police officers, domestic violence is two-to-four times more likely than in the general population — from stalking and harassment to sexual assault and even homicide. As the National Center for Women and Policing notes, two studies have found that at least 40% of police officer families experience domestic violence, in contrast to 10% of families in the general population.

Can you imagine the sheer horror of being abused by a police officer? If it's already complex to report domestic violence on a partner that isn't in law enforcement, imagine how much more difficult it must be to call the police on the police. This thought, combined with the already highly secretive nature of policing, has caused experts to believe that the actual rates of domestic violence by law enforcement are drastically underreported.

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http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/09/10/1420117/-Police-officers-have-a-rate-of-domestic-violence-at-least-300-higher-than-active-players-in-the-NFL