Norris School District

Detective Phil Lange Combats Teen & Domestic Violence

“Teen dating violence is a problem.”  That was the message from Lancaster County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Phil Lange.  Detective Lange, a 14 year veteran of the force, spoke to Norris juniors and seniors yesterday during their Individual Academic Period (11 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.).  Investigator Lange spoke to students with the intent of raising their awareness of the problem, apprising students of current laws governing these crimes, and ways young people can be advocates for themselves and their friends if they are victimized by domestic or teen violence. 

Detective Lange explained that law enforcement has revised their old standards in responding to domestic violations, and that it used to be common for law enforcement officers to deal with these volatile situations in a more dismissive manner or to treat both parties as “somewhat responsible” so “We would either ticket both or recommend that they go to counseling and leave it at that.”  Now, the law allows for the citation of the individual deemed the “primary aggressor,” helping the officers on site to make determinations about the individual who is actually inflicting abuse on the victim.

“We don’t like to go on these calls,” he said, candidly.  “They are dangerous calls to go on, because you are dealing with problems that usually took years to develop and that can’t be fixed in an hour.  These patterns of abuse have often gone on for years.” 

Detective Lange explained the cyclical nature of abuse patterns to students.  He described how victims of domestic violence, including teen dating violence, experience isolation and develop a “trained helplessness” over time.  “These behaviors are instilled in individuals – both abusers and victims – over time,” he said.  He explained that, often, the most dangerous time a victim experiences is when she makes a plan to end the relationship and get away. 

Detective Lange also suggested that the media young people choose to expose themselves to can have negative influences.  “I’m not here to preach,” he said, “I just want you to think about this stuff.  There is a lot of male and female stereotyping that goes on.  I am not saying that because of these things, you are going to go out and engage in these kinds of [abusive] behaviors, but I want you to think about how these things in the media may affect your perceptions and your attitude.”  Detective Lange offered examples of violent media imagery or stereotypical sexist portrayals of male and female roles from the video game Grand Theft Auto, the rapper Eminem, and even a Calvin Klein magazine advertisement.  He suggested that some of the ‘Extreme Makeover’ shows that have become so popular on television seem to imply that “Everyone in our society has to look a certain way in order to be beautiful, and the fact that people will put themselves through what some of them go through to achieve that is just frightening.”

To help: Detective Lange said that students who have a friend or family member who is a victim of abuse can help that person by:

            -Expressing concerns to the friend

            -Reporting the situation to law enforcement

-Supporting their friends – being there for them

            -Working on a safety plan for that person – help that person know how to get away, to be safe, to avoid the situation.