Dottie Davis spent 32 years wearing a badge and gun, rising through the ranks to become Deputy Chief of the Fort Wayne Police Department. To the public, she was a symbol of strength and authority. But behind closed doors, she was fighting a secret battle for her life against a husband who also wore a police uniform.

Davis is now breaking her silence with a powerful new memoir, Strangled: A Survivor’s Plea to Men Who Look the Other Way. Released just days ago on International Women’s Day, the book is not just a retelling of her trauma. It is a direct challenge to men to step up and stop the violence destroying families across Indiana.

A Double Life Behind the Badge

Davis joined the force in 1981 when female officers were still a rarity. There were only five women in the department at the time. She felt intense pressure to prove she was tough enough for the job. This pressure forced her to hide the abuse happening in her own home. She feared that if her male colleagues knew she was a victim, they would not trust her to back them up on the streets.

Her abuser was not just any man. He was her husband and a fellow law enforcement officer at another agency. This complication made the silence even heavier. Davis describes living a “double life” where she commanded a police division by day and walked on eggshells by night.

The title of her book, Strangled, holds a chilling double meaning. Davis revealed that she was born with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. Decades later, the father of her child tried to kill her the same way.

“I was brought into the world the same way I almost left the world,” Davis said in a recent interview.

She eventually found the courage to leave the relationship. But the fear of being ostracized by the “brotherhood” of police kept her quiet for a long time. Now, she argues that police departments must stop minimizing abuse within their own ranks. She calls for a change in language, urging leaders to stop saying “officer-involved domestic violence” and start calling it what it is: police-perpetrated crime.

The Good Men Solution

The core message of Davis’s book is unique. She is not just speaking to victims. She is speaking to men. Davis believes that the key to ending domestic violence lies with the majority of men who are not abusers.

She cites research suggesting that roughly 75% of men are non-violent, respectful partners and fathers. Her plea is for this “silent majority” to stop looking the other way.

“If it’s one-fourth of the men that are perpetrating, I need the other three-fourths standing up,” Davis said.

She wants men to call out their friends when they objectify women or make disrespectful jokes. She believes these small moments pave the way for physical violence. When good men remain silent, they unintentionally protect the abusers. Her book outlines specific ways men can intervene without putting themselves in danger. She argues that violence against women will only stop when men decide it is no longer acceptable in their peer groups.

Indiana’s Silent Epidemic

The release of Strangled comes at a critical time for Indiana. The state has seen alarmingly high rates of domestic violence homicides in recent years. Davis highlighted that the statistics are getting worse, not better.

“Nationally, this statistic now is one out of every four women. Here in Allen County, it’s one out of every two,” Davis told reporters.

These numbers paint a grim picture of the reality inside many Hoosier homes. Davis points out that legal accountability is often missing. Laws exist, but they are not always enforced strictly enough to protect victims.

She emphasizes that domestic violence is not just a private family matter. It spills over into the community. It affects children, workplaces, and public safety. By sharing her story, she hopes to put a face on these statistics. She wants leaders to see that if a Deputy Chief can be a victim, anyone can.

Beyond the Uniform

Since retiring from the FWPD in 2013, Davis has not slowed down. She served as the Director of Security for Fort Wayne Community Schools, overseeing the safety of thousands of students. Today, she runs her own consulting firm, Davis Corporate Training.

She travels internationally to train police officers and mental health professionals. Her training focuses on the things she learned the hard way: how to spot the signs of strangulation, how to prevent suicide, and how to support victims of sexual assault.

Her career has shifted from enforcing the law to shaping how the law treats vulnerable people. She uses her survivor story to bridge the gap between victims and the justice system.

“I can keep talking about it, but until I can get men to stand up and say, ‘This is not acceptable,’ we won’t see real change,” she said.

Davis proves that survival is not the end of the story. It is the beginning of advocacy. Her book is available now on Amazon. She will be signing copies and meeting with the community this Thursday, March 19, at the YWCA on W. Washington Center Road in Fort Wayne.

We want to hear from you. Do you think more men need to speak up against domestic violence in their friend groups? Share your thoughts in the comments below. If you are sharing this story on social media, use the hashtag #StrangledMemoir to join the conversation.