Wendy Murphy: Lock up abusers, don’t defund the police

Before any details were released about the guy who shot two Braintree cops and killed a police dog, many people like me guessed that the guy had a history of violence against women. We were right.

When police got to the scene in response to a 911 call about domestic violence, they were ambushed by a shooter with a long rap sheet that was filled with — you guessed it — domestic violence charges.

The Braintree case illustrates what research has long shown: Men who abuse women pose a serious threat not only to their victims but also to their communities. At least 60% of mass shootings are committed by men with criminal records involving violence against women.

All police chiefs will tell you that calls about domestic violence are among the most dangerous because batterers often have guns. When an officer is injured during a domestic violence call, there’s a 50% chance they will need medical treatment. When an officer is killed during a response to domestic violence, there’s a 95% chance he or she was killed by a firearm.

Everybody who works with domestic violence victims knows that batterers are notorious for threatening and harming their victims’ friends and family. They even threaten, harm and sometimes kill their pets, so it was no surprise that the man who shot two Braintree cops also shot and killed a police dog.

It’s time to start treating domestic violence as the serious threat to the general public that it is, but police cannot respond effectively without more resources and support, including policies that ensure prosecutors do not drop the charges every time a victim says she doesn’t feel like testifying.

We also need to stop the nonsense about defunding the police because those who say police budgets are too high also say we should decriminalize domestic violence, and send social workers rather than cops to domestic violence calls. All that will do is add dead social workers to the list of people abusers.

Domestic violence always requires an armed police response by multiple cops precisely because there’s a good chance a man who feels entitled to beat a woman is exactly the kind of guy who won’t think twice about shooting at someone who tries to hold him accountable.

This isn’t complicated. If the guy who shot two police officers in Braintree had been behind bars, the night would have been a lot safer for one woman, two cops and a dog.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2RDjSxS