Police charged with domestic assault ... again

Does anyone know the consequences for Sgt Hlavac under the new policies?

Pittsburgh police Sgt. Eugene Hlavac was charged yesterday with one count of aggravated assault after his ex-girlfriend, who is the mother of his son, said he hit her.

Lauren Noel Maughan initially contacted Penn Hills police, who referred her to Pittsburgh police. She provided a written statement, according to a criminal complaint filed in Municipal Court.

The sergeant, who works in the Hill District, was arraigned yesterday and released on his own recognizance but was ordered to have no contact with Ms. Maughan. He could not be reached last night. His status with the Police Bureau was not clear.

According to the complaint, Sgt. Hlavac met her at Forbes Regional Hospital in Monroeville and told a doctor, "She's always getting hurt, she fell down her steps and tripped and may have hit her wall." The doctor determined that Ms. Maughan had partially dislocated her jaw, according to the complaint.

In 2007, the promotions of Sgt. Hlavac and two other city police officers who had faced domestic abuse allegations prompted police officials to make several policy changes. He had two police calls to his house that year for loud arguments.

Not a good year for the Mayor's promotees. Hlavac, obviously, hasn't quite learned a lesson. And then there's Commander Trosky of Zone 2 who faces allegations that he commandeered a Zone 1 event and engaged in conduct unbecoming a leader by verbally abusing a subordinate assigned to the Mayor's security detail. That's one ugly, unholy mess of a pissing contest in what could be yet another attempt to squelch the role of women in the police upper echelons (Zone One is commanded by Rashelle Brackney, a highly respected commander who is standing up to Trosky's roll over on her responsibilities).

So let's hope the new domestic violence policies have some teeth and can potentially break this cycle before Sgt Hlavac breaks more than the jaw of the mother of his child. Or any woman.