Wives of LAPD officers talk about the impact of current police climate
LOS ANGELES - Three wives of police officers from the Los Angeles Police Department are sharing their stories about their personal struggles navigating the current climate of policing.
Amanda, Christine and Cheri are all married to LAPD officers who have served in the Department for more than 20 years.
"We were not prepared for the amount of hatred and violence, name-calling and just the blow to our whole family. It's been devastating for the children," said Christine whose husband has been a part of the LAPD for 26 years.
Christine said her children are struggling with anxiety.
"It's scary. We don't know when we say goodbye if that's the last time and our children have anxiety over it," said Christine.
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Amanda, whose husband has been a part of the LAPD for 23 years, said her children also have anxiety.
"We can't really shelter our children from it and they are experiencing depression and anxiety and all of these things because they're inundated with these messages about the people that they love and care about. I think it's important to remember it's not just affecting the officer. It's not just affecting us as wives, but it's also affecting us as mothers and it's affecting our children," said Amanda.
Cheri, who has worked in law enforcement for 31 years and is married to a man who has worked for the LAPD for 26 years, also talked about some of the concerns.
"The majority of our citizens love us and want us in their communities to help them, to be there for them, to serve the community like we know how and the extra stress is real. The majority of officers are good people who are working hard. That's it and we would appreciate everybody's support in understanding we are human and we're just out there trying to serve our community," said Cheri.
The wives are part of a larger support group with hundreds of LAPD spouses who help each other.
"Our support group is none other. We touch every facet of the law enforcement family life. We have support groups for our families with special needs children, help with finances, we do everything you can think of to empower and show love and support," said Christine.
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"This support group right here is so good for the community at large because we need our officers to stay strong. We need the wives to stay strong with their kids to make sure they're not worrying as much as possible. They [support group members] don't do just talking. I was in the hospital for my chemo and they brought over food for my boys. It's just a community," said Cheri.
The women said they want to share positive stories of officers and spread a message of "anti-hate."
"Our husbands are human beings. They're fathers, and sons and brothers and they need to come home and be safe like everybody else. It is really detrimental to someone's soul and being when they're so hated and demoralized on a consistent basis," said Christine.
The women said they don't want sympathy.
"We don't want to come out and have you or anybody feel sorry for us. We want to take this experience and fix it. We want to go out in the community and blur the lines in the sand that have been drawn and create an environment where we can all live cohesively, lovingly, where we're supporting each other," said Amanda.
Amanda said she has seen many changes within the last year.
"In the last year, all this hope for change in the system has now gone and we're seeing that with the really amazing law enforcement officers on the street that do want to protect, they're the ones struggling the most. They're the ones that are pushing for this positive change in law enforcement but you can't get anywhere if you're always met with resistance from the people within the system or the people within the community. We're human. We are all human and we are all learning and growing and trying to do the best we can on a daily basis and let's come together and show each other our humanity and not create more trauma. Figure out what's working, what's not working and move forward. That's what my husband wants when he puts that uniform on is to go out into the world and to make people feel like they're loved and protected, not be afraid of him," said Amanda.
Cheri said she encourages people to become part of law enforcement.
"For those of you who want to be police officers and sheriff's deputies, go on the internet and apply. We are looking for good people," said Cheri.