Domestic disturbances especially dangerous for police officers, experts say
CHICAGO (CBS) – The shooting that ended in the death of Chicago police officer Andres Vasquez-Lasso started with a call for help. The officer was initially responding to reports of domestic violence in Gage Park.
While some details remain uncertain on the case, the Chicago Police Department said Officer Vasquez-Lasso was there because a woman reported that she was being chased by a man with a gun.
It turns out, domestic disturbance calls claim an alarming number of officer's lives across the country.
Stephanie Love-Patterson, with Connections for Abused Women and their Children (CAWC), said anecdotally, her organization has seen violence intensify if calls get to the level where police are dispatched.
"At the core root of all of this is power and control, and the moment that perpetrators of these crimes feel like their power slipping away, then usually we see escalated forms of violence," Love-Patterson said.
Sadly, that's also reflected in the most recent police officer death data collected by the FBI. In 2021, 73 law enforcement officers died from non-accidental injuries incurred in the line of duty nationwide. Seven of those officers were responding to disturbances, including domestic violence calls.
In looking at the bigger picture data over the last decade or so, 43 officers were killed while responding to domestic disturbance or domestic violence calls between 2011 and 2020, which is nearly 9% of all officers killed (503) during that period.
"Absolutely, domestic violence calls are very dangerous, in part because survivors often wait to call law enforcement until the lethality risk is very high," said Amanda Pyron, executive director of The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence.
Pyron explained that while we're still waiting to learn the specifics of this case, she hopes that domestic violence survivors across the Chicago area will take note.
"The one way that we can think of to prevent or to decrease the lethality of domestic violence, and our officer involved homicides like this is to have survivors reach out," Pyron said.
Pyron added that domestic violence calls had been part of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot's strategic plan on gender-based violence.
"It's, unfortunately, part of her plan that was never acted upon," she said.
That plan was introduced in 2021, and as we learn more about Wednesday's shooting, advocates said the tragedy is shining a light on the need for solutions moving forward.
"We just didn't take any steps to do anything to address this," Pyron said. "And we know it's been a problem for a long time."
Officers are also hurt in domestic violence responses. FBI data show of all officers who were assaulted in 2021, nearly 29% were responding to disturbance calls.
