Chapter 9 - Frank’s Department Had Seen Pieces of the Problem Too
The internal investigation surprised everyone.
Including me.
Frank had no long secret record of domestic violence.
No hidden criminal cases.
No department-wide cover-up.
What existed were:
fragments.
Four years earlier, a neighbor called police after hearing shouting at my mother’s house.
Responding officer documented:
verbal domestic dispute.
No injuries.
Both parties declined further action.
Two years later, an officer responded because Elaine accidentally triggered a home alarm during an argument.
Again:
no assault alleged.
Then Frank’s younger sergeant wrote an informal supervisor note after Frank arrived at work extremely angry following a fight at home.
Nothing disciplinary.
Why?
Because adults are allowed to:
argue,
be angry,
have bad marriages.
But after the kitchen incident, those fragments looked different.
Not proof the department should have predicted:
everything.
Context.
Frank’s colleagues also admitted something uncomfortable.
His rank made people reluctant to:
push.
One deputy said:
“When Frank said it was handled, we usually believed him.”
Institutional deference.
Not conspiracy.
May you like
Still dangerous sometimes.
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