Neptune Township Police Protected Ex-Cop Who Was A Serial Domestic Abuser & Used Excessive Force On Citizens

Philip Seidle, the suspended Neptune Township police sergeant who plead guilty earlier this year to aggravated manslaughter and child endangerment was sentenced in Monmouth County Superior Court in New Jersey to 30 years in prison. NJ.com reports that according to a new lawsuit filed Monday by his children,

Less than a year after Philip Seidle — who had already served two suspensions for domestic violence and briefly had his service weapon taken away — offered to turn in his badge and his gun for good, he used that same weapon to pump a dozen shots into his ex-wife, Tamara Wilson-Siedle, in broad daylight on an Asbury Park street on June 16, 2015.

The new lawsuit, filed by the nine Seidle children, includes explosive new allegations that their 54-year-old police officer father had an internal affairs file that is 682 pages with excessive force complaints starting in 2004.

According to advocacy sites on domestic violence among police officers, that up to 40% of police officers families have episodes of domestic violence but in addition to covering up this problem, the media helps to perpetuate the good cop image to the public. As the spotlight recently has been put on sexual abusers of women and domestic violence, the police have escaped scrutiny.

Two studies have found that at least 40% of police officer families experience domestic violence, (1, 2) in contrast to 10% of families in the general population.(3) A third study of older and more experienced officers found a rate of 24% (4), indicating that domestic violence is 2-4 times more common among police families than American families in general. A police department that has domestic violence offenders among its ranks will not effectively serve and protect victims in the community.5, 6, 7, 8 Moreover, when officers know of domestic violence committed by their colleagues and seek to protect them by covering it up, they expose the department to civil liability.